India has finally managed to change the script in Ahmedabad. On Thursday, they lost the toss and had to bat first, but unlike in the previous three games, this time chasing at the Motera stadium proved to be tough.
In the end, India, defending 185/8, survived a few tense moments at the death to win by eight runs and square the T20I series against England 2-2, with the decider to be played at the same venue on Saturday.
Suryakumar Yadav’s superlative 31-ball 57 in what was his maiden innings in international cricket laid the foundation for India’s challenging total on a wicket that was more in favour of batsmen. The dew factor and the resultant wet ball notwithstanding, India’s bowlers took the pace off the ball with Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya also mixing those slower bouncers that not just denied England a flying start, but also bottled them up at the death.
Hardik picked up the key wicket of Jason Roy and then Sam Curran towards the end. Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar — replacing the struggling Yuzvendra Chahal — also deserves a mention for dismissing Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow without giving too much away.
Ben Stokes and Bairstow, playing his 50th T20I, brought England back in the game with their fantastic 65-run partnership. But Chahar deceived Bairstow first and a little while later Shardul used the slower ball to fox Stokes, who was caught at the deep.
He followed it up with another slower that saw captain Eoin Morgan depart.
That over — the 17th of the England innings — was the turning point of the game as from thereon, India wrested back control.
A TV grab showing Dawid Malan taking Suryakumar Yadav’s controversial catch on Thursday
Hardik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar then ensured the equation became even steeper for England and even though Jofra Archer threatened with the bat in the final over, England still fell short, finishing on 177/8. A nervous-looking Shardul recovered well in the last over after being hit for a six and conceding two wides.
Earlier, the manner in which Suryakumar, fondly called “SKY”, got off the mark in international cricket was a reflection of his supreme confidence. The ease with which he guided the very first ball he faced over the fine-leg region for a six, and that too off Archer, it seemed as if his maiden innings was just an extension of a game from the IPL, where he has been a match-winner for Mumbai Indians.
Sent in at No.3, ahead of captain Virat Kohli, Suryakumar, making his second international appearance and coming in place of Ishan Kishan (out with a groin niggle) single-handedly kept the England bowlers under pressure scoring more than half of the team total till the time he was at the crease.
Proper cricketing shots with exquisite timing were the hallmarks of his knock that was adorned with six boundaries and three maximums.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul did get India off to a decent start. But Archer cut short Rohit’s stay by varying his pace a little bit.
With Suryakumar on song from ball one, Rahul too looked more confident, but again, gave it away with a shot that could have been avoided. Skipper Kohli too did not last long, bamboozled for the second time in the series by Rashid, who bowled a perfect googly.
With India at 70/3 in the ninth over, England had a chance to derail the hosts, but they simply had no answer to Suryakumar’s brilliance.
His dismissal, however, was rather controversial.
Suryakumar had every reason to be disappointed as a part of the ball, after being caught in the deep by Malan, seemed to have touched the ground. But with the soft signal from the on-field umpire being out and TV evidence too being inconclusive, the third umpire ruled in favour of England.
