With the 5-match T20I series on the line, home team India made a brilliant comeback in the fourth match of the series to level the series 2-2. This match has third umpire blunders that went against India but they posted a mammoth score to bag a win comfortably. Suryakumar Yadav who did not bat on debut and was dropped in the next game has been India’s top performer in the game.
After being sent into bat first, India lost Rohit Sharma (12 off 12) early in the powerplay. The other Indian opener KL Rahul who bagged three consecutive ducks in the first three games scored 14 runs from 17 deliveries in this match. However, the star of the Indian batting unit has been Suryakumar who scored 57 runs off 31 deliveries with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Shreyas Iyer provided the much-needed impetus with the bat scoring 37 runs off 18 deliveries. Overall, India managed to score 185/8 in 20 overs. Jofra Archer has been the pick of England bowlers with 4 wickets from his 4 overs.
During the chase, England batters found it hard to even nick the ball in the powerplay overs, thanks to slower deliveries from all-rounder Hardik Pandya! India, at one stage, were eyeing a massive victory in this game but Washington Sundar’s 4 overs came as a blessing for the visitors. England scored 52 runs from Sundar’s 4 overs which helped them get close to India’s target. However, the chase took a complete U-turn when Shardul Thakur dismissed Ben Stokes (46 off 23) and Eoin Morgan in the first 2 deliveries of the 17th over! Rohit was captaining the Indian side in the last 4 overs as Kohli left the field due to injury concerns. It was Rohit’s advice on the ball release that helped Shardul pick the wicket of Stokes!
With those two quick wickets, England dropped down to a ‘state of worry’ from a ‘state of complete control’. Jofra Archer scored unbeaten 18* runs off 8 deliveries with 2 fours and a six but failed to take his team over the line. With 23 needed from the final over, Archer and extras combined got 14 runs from the first 4 deliveries. However, no runs were scored in the remaining 2 deliveries with Archer at the other end. In the end, India won the match by a margin of 8 runs. Among Indian bowlers, Shardul bagged 3 wickets while Hardik and Rahul Chahar bagged 2 wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar accounted for a wicket while Sundar was wicketless.
Suryakumar Yadav has been adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his half-century in this 8-run victory. At this juncture, the 5-match T20I series is level 2-2 with one match to go. The fifth and final T20I will be played at the same venue – Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad – on Saturday (Mar 20).
Brief Scores: India – 185/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav – 57, Shreyas Iyer – 37, Jofra Archer – 4/33, Mark Wood – 1/25) defeated England – 177/8 in 20 overs (Ben Stokes – 46, Jason Roy – 40, Shardul Thakur – 3/42, Hardik Pandya – 2/16) by a margin of 8 runs
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