India v England 3rd T20I Review: India win series, Chahal becomes 2nd bowler to bag 6 wicket haul

In a dramatic collapse, visitors England lost their last 8 wickets for just 8 runs as the men in Blue won the 3rd and the decisive encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore by 75 runs to win the 3 matches bilateral T20I series by a 2-1 margin. Courtesy brilliant half-centuries by Suresh Raina and former captain MS Dhoni, Team India managed to post 202 after batting first. Despite posting over 200 it was a par score on a batting paradise like Bangalore and England would have taken that at the beginning of the day. The English batsmen began well and were cruising but an exceptional collapse saw them lose the match by a huge margin of 75 runs.

Despite posting over 200 it was a par score on a batting paradise like Bangalore and England would have taken that at the beginning of the day. The English batsmen began well and were cruising but an exceptional collapse saw them lose the match by a huge margin of 75 runs.

Winning the toss for the 3rd consecutive time in the series Eoin Morgan opted to bowl first. Teenager Rishabh Pant made his debut for India in place of Manish Pandey. Despite his inclusion, Virat Kohli came out to open with KL Rahul but gave away his wicket in only the 2nd over in the form of a run-out. It was an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration from Kohli which cost him and the team dearly. Suresh Raina again came out to bat at the No.3 position and looked in good touch from the outset.

Raina struck a struck a terrific six of Tymal Mills through the extra cover region in the final delivery of the 3rd over to set thing rolling for him and the team. Now it was the turn of Rahul to press on the accelerator as he smashed Liam Plunkett for consecutive boundaries in the first two deliveries of the 4th over.

Raina again struck a boundary of Ben Stokes in the next over through the point region. There was no stopping Raina as he smashed a couple of sixes more in the next over of Chris Jordan to push the Indian score to 53/1 after the 6th over. His pick up flick over the fine leg region was a heck of a shot.

Rahul struck a monstrous six in the very next over of Adil Rashid which went outside the stadium. He couldn’t quite accelerate for long as he gave away his wicket attempting a big heave. Stokes got a reprieve as he clearly overstepped. Dhoni came out to bat earlier than usual and began in an attacking fashion.

Dhoni and Raina struck a six each in the 12th over and followed it up with two more in the following two overs. Dhoni’s straight six over the sightscreen was quite amazing. Raina was eventually dismissed in the 14th over while attempting a shot over the extra cover.

The much needed late impetus was provided by Yuvraj Singh who struck 3 sixes and a four of Chris Jordan in the 18th over to roll back the years. It was sensational from the comeback man as he literally toyed with Jordan. Dhoni went on to score his maiden T20I half-century as he went on to remain unbeaten on 56 of 36 deliveries as India finished their allotted 20 overs at 202/6.

Chasing a big total, England began cautiously as Ashish Nehra bowled a terrific opening over where he conceded a solitary run. Yuzvendra Chahal yet again started off proceedings with the veteran Nehra.

He was smashed for a reverse sweep six over the deep point region by Sam Billings which left everyone stunned. But Chahal came back very strongly and removed Billings in the very next delivery as he inside edged a fuller length delivery to his feet only to be caught by Virat Kohli in the 1st slip region.

Root struck a hat-trick of boundaries of Ashish Nehra in the 3rd over and followed it up with a couple more in the next few overs. Roy in the meantime was also going well before he failed to read a googly of Amit Mishra and skied a loopy delivery only to be caught safely by MS Dhoni behind the stumps. Captain Morgan joined Root in the middle and looked in good touch. The southpaw began with a six of Hardik Pandya in the 10th over.

Raina was smashed for a hat-trick of sixes by Morgan in the 12th over but was deceived by a googly from Chahal. With his wicket, the visitors fell apart like nine pins as they lost their last 8 wickets for only 8 runs. Yes, you heard it right 8 wickets for only 8 runs. It was a sensational collapse considering the batting-friendly conditions in Bangalore as Yuzvendra Chahal wrecked havoc and finished with the best bowling figures by an Indian in T20I’s.

He bamboozled them with his pace variations as the English batsmen failed to read him. He bowled the flatter trajectory delivery to dismiss the danger man Ben Stokes and finished with Chris Jordan’s wicket in the 16th over. He also became the 2nd bowler after Sri Lanka’s Ajanta Mendis to bag a 6 wicket haul in T20I cricket.

Bumrah did the formalities in the very next over by dismissing Liam Plunkett and Tymal Mills to hand India a terrific 75 runs victory. He castled Liam Plunkett with a short of length delivery and induced an outside edge from Tymal Mills to finish off proceedings. Courtesy the victory, India completes a clean sweep of England across all formats.

The Men in Blue will meet Bangladesh in the one-off Test at Hyderabad on 9th February followed by the 4 match series against Australia from 23rd February.

Brief Scores

India 202/6 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 65, MS Dhoni 56, Tymal Mills 1/31)

England 127 16.3 overs (Joe Root 42, Eoin Morgan 40, Yuzvendra Chahal 6/25)

India won by 75 runs