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With India touring Australia this summer, it is topical to note that India defeated England in their country this month, 2-1, in T20 Internationals (T20I) on Sunday.
It is painful to remember that on June 27th, Australia had lost to England by 28 runs at Birmingham in the only Twenty20 they played.
So Australia, beware of the Indian invasion in a few months.
Indian cricketers started their tour of England on a winning note. Last night they defeated England by seven wickets at Bristol in the third and final T20I.
Their heroes in the series were opening batsman Rohit Sharma, mystery spinner Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
India won the first Twenty20 at Manchester by eight wickets with ten balls remaining.
England, who batted first, could manage eight for 159 as Kuldeep Yadav dumbfounded their batsmen with a five for 24 haul. Only Jos Buttler could read his spin as he scored 69.
India’s number three batsman Lokesh Rahul stroked a magnificent 101 not out with ten fours and five sixes and India won comfortably by eight wickets with ten balls remaining.
Rahul, the man of the match said at the press conference, “I haven’t chased anything with so much heart and passion.”
The second Twenty20 at Cardiff was a thriller, the result of the match in doubt until the final over. England won it by five wickets with only two balls in hand.
Skipper Virat Kohli scored 47 but the rest of Indian batsmen failed and could total only five for 148. With the man of the match, Alex Hales, remaining unbeaten with 58, England replied with 5-149 to level the series 1-all.
(AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN)
Now to the final series-deciding Twenty20 at Bristol on Sunday. Sent into bat, England started brilliantly as their openers Jason Roy (67 runs with four fours and seven spectacular sixes) and Jos Buttler (34) put on 94 aggressive runs in only 47 balls.
A total of 225 was on the cards but Hardik Pandya (four for 38) took vital wickets and England was restricted to 198.
To chase 199 runs was no easy task. But Rohit Sharma played a scintillating and unbeaten innings of 100 enriched with 11 fours and five sixes to give India a promising start.
He was partnered by Kohli (43 runs) and Pandya (33 not out).
India won by seven wickets to with eight balls to spare and with it the series 2-1. Rohit Sharma was both the man of the match and the man of the series.
According to Bharath Seervi of ESPN, “Rohit Sharma became only the second player to score three Twenty20 hundreds. Colin Munro [of New Zealand] was the first to do so, getting there last year. Rohit scored his maiden Twenty20century against South Africa at Dharamsala in 2015 and his second against Sri Lanka in Indore last year. Rohit’s 100 not out off 56 balls was his fifth century in all T20s, which is the most among Indian players and Asian players.”
Pandya became the first Indian cricketer and eighth overall to score 30 runs and take four wickets in a T20 International. The last such all-round performance by any player was in 2015 when West Indian Dwayne Bravo scored 31 and captured four for 28 against Sri Lanka.
Kohli said at the presentation after India’s series victory, “I think the comeback from the bowlers was outstanding, we thought they [England] would get 225-230. The character they [Indian bowlers] showed is something we are really proud of. As captain, very happy to see that. We had the quality to bowl those wicket-taking deliveries. We applied pressure and pulled the game back. [Pandya] is a really good all-round cricketer, very confident and the way he picked up those wickets is what you want to see in younger guys. Then he delivers with the bat. Rohit was obviously very special but Hardik was standout.”
India has won her last eight home and away Twenty20 series since 2016.
The three One-Day International series between England and India starts at Nottingham on July 12th and the five-Test series starts at Birmingham on August 1st.