India vs England: 3rd T20I, 2021 – Who Said What

The third T20 International between India and England at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium saw an action-packed performance as the visitors registered a victory by 8 wickets. The class inning by skipper Virat Kohli was effectively overshadowed by the power-hitting of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.

Put to bat first, India had a poor start to their innings as they lost their three wickets quickly with the top-order batsmen including the likes of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan scoring 0, 15, and 4 runs respectively. This was followed by Indian skipper Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant stitching a crucial 40-run partnership but a miscommunication between the two resulted in the youngster losing his wicket to a run-out.

Pant departed to the pavilion after scoring 25 runs but the skipper held his fort at one end and produced a masterclass by playing a classic ‘Virat Kohli’ knock, scoring 77* off 46 balls including 8 maximums and 4 boundaries at a strike rate of 167.39. Hardik Pandya also played a short cameo by adding 17 runs to the scoreboard after facing 15 deliveries.

Jos Buttler produces a Man of the Match performance

For England, right-arm quick Mark Wood was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets under his belt in 4 overs. Apart from his, Chris Wood also managed to scalp two wickets of Pandya and Ishan. Thus, in the end, India managed to post a decent total of 156 on the board.

It was a bad day in the office for the Indian bowling unit as they were smashed all over the park by the England batsmen. Chasing 157, England completed the target in 18.2 overs with Jos Buttler emerging as the wrecker-in-chief by playing a sublime knock of 83* runs off 52 deliveries. Jonny Bairstow was also at his fluent best with the willow as he smashed 40 not-out.

Losing skipper, Virat Kohli said

If that helps the team, then sure. You don’t want to play knocks which don’t help the team in any way. It was a bit difficult to bat against the new ball. Their bowlers were hitting good areas. We got one little partnership, it was important for me to bat deep. The case was to get set and try to get a decent total. I was going through a lean patch two days back. He (KL Rahul) has been a champion player. He’ll continue to be one of our main players along with Rohit at the top of the order. It’s a matter of five-six balls in this format. If you lose the toss, embrace what’s been asked of you. England bowlers were brilliant with the new ball, made our lives difficult. We tried to come back, I don’t think our body language was good in the second innings. You need to figure out which other all-rounder can be featured. With the ball, Hardik is coming along nicely.

Player of the Match, Jos Buttler said

It was nice to spend time in the middle. It was a great team performance. We got some good partnerships to see us home. People don’t expect me to attack spinners, so I tried to take it on. It was nice to chance my arm today against Chahal. First six off Chahal got me off and running. We managed to have a good powerplay.

Winning skipper, Eoin Morgan said

The carry we saw throughout the whole game, it was surprising. Our guys don’t find it too hard to adjust. First half of our bowling was exceptional. The wicket stayed similar. When there’s one short side, you don’t know what’s a good score. It’s just the dynamics of T20 cricket. Jos is a world-class player, we are very lucky to have him. He competes with the best when it comes to opening the batting. He’s a great leader within our group. He’s a great friend of mine. The words he said really warmed my heart and I am very grateful for that.