Kuldeep Yadav's five-for against England: India’s top 5 bowling performances in T20Is

India’s chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav continued with his good bowling form in England as he floored the hosts in the first T20 International (T20I) played in Manchester on Wednesday, July 3, by taking 5 wickets for 24 runs in his four overs.

It was because of his accurate spell that the hosts lost way after getting a good start and his five scalps were from the top six of England’s batting order. Yadav was selected as the man of the match even though KL Rahul hit an unbeaten century during India’s chase to see his side win by 8 wickets.

Yadav, 23, thus became the third Indian bowler to take a five-for haul in the 20-over format after his partner Yuzvendra Chahal (6 for 25 against England) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5 for 24 against South Africa).

Here, we take a look at top five bowling performances by India in T20s:

1. Yuzvendra Chahal (6 for 25 vs England; Feb 2017)

It was the series decider game in Bengaluru after India were tied with England 1-1. India came up with a strong batting display on that day by posting 202 for 6 in 20 overs, thanks to half-centuries from Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The English were chasing the target spiritedly with 119 for 2 in the 14^th over. Just when the Indian supporters started to feel nervous, Chahal dismissed England captain Eoin Morgan and Joe Root in consecutive balls and the visitors fell like nine pins, losing their last eight wickets for just eight wickets!

Chahal returned with the figure of 6 for 25 in four overs – the third best figures in the T20Is after Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis’s (6 for 8 and 6 for 16). Chahal was picked both as the man of the match and man of the series as India won the decider by 75 runs to pocket the series 2-1.

2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6 for 24 vs South Africa; Feb 2018)

This was the first of the three-game T20I series played in Johannesburg and home captain JP Duminy won the toss and put Virat Kohli’s men into batting first.

Led by opener Shikhar Dhawan’s 39-ball 72 and a few quick innings from Kohli and Manish Pandey, the visitors posted 203 for 5 in their 20 overs. Bhuvneshwar, a tricky customer with the ball, pegged the Proteas’ chase back at the very beginning, taking two quick wickets and then came back to rattle South Africa in the 18th over by dismissing their highest scorer Reeza Hendricks and big hitters Heinrich Klassen and Chris Morris in quick succession to restrict the hosts to 175 for 9 in their allotted 20 over.

Bhuvneshwar was adjudged the man of the match as India won by 28 runs and took1-0 lead. Kumar, like Chahal, was also picked as the man of the series after he played a key role in helping India win the series 2-1 in Cape Town.

India’s chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav continued with his good bowling form in England as he floored the hosts in the first T20 International (T20I) played in Manchester on Wednesday, July 3, by taking 5 wickets.

3. Kuldeep Yadav (5 for 24 vs England; July 2018)

When ‘Cha’ has already done it, how far can ‘Kul’ be behind? After a good show in South Africa, during the Indian Premier League and Ireland just before the England T20I, the chinaman bowler rocked the Englishmen who of late are in a killing form.

After Virat Kohli won the toss and sent Eoin Morgan’s men to bat first, the hosts put up a good opening partnership of 50 runs before the other Yadav, Umesh, broke it. And then it was all Kuldeep Yadav and when he took his fifth in the 18^th over, England were struggling at 141 for 7 and they could not manage more than 159 in their 20 overs. India had no problem despite losing Dhawan early on as KL Rahul’s ton powered them to home with 8 wickets to spare.

4. Ravichandran Ashwin (4 for 8 vs Sri Lanka; Feb 2016)

Till India’s three five-for hauls were registered between Feb 2017 and July 2018, it was offie Ashwin’s 4 for 8 which prevailed as the best performance by an Indian bowler in the T20Is. It was also a series decider against Sri Lanka in Vishakhapatnam where the then skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first.

Ashwin opened the bowling struck twice in the very first over to reduce the Lankans to 2 for 3. He then dismissed two more top-order batsmen and returned with the match figure of 4 for 8 in 4 overs.

The Lankans were bundled for 82 in that game and India romped home with more than six overs to spare and for the loss of just one wicket.

Ashwin, who is India’s highest wicket-taker for India in the T20Is, was adjudged the man of the match as well as the man of the series. Ashwin has another four-for in the T20Is, against Australia in the World T20 in Dhaka in March 2014, which also India won and the off-spinner got the man of the match award.

5. Barinder Sran (4 for 10 vs Zimbabwe; June 2016)

After an inexperienced side led by MS Dhoni lost the first T20 against the African opponents by just 2 runs, the second game became crucial and it was Haryana pacer Barinder Sran, who made his T20I debut in this match, rose to the occasion. He took top four Zimbabwean wickets to leave them reeling at 28 for 4 and from which the Africans could never recover.

India were given a modest target of 100 in 20 overs after Sran’s Blitzkrieg restricted Zimbabwe to 99 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs.

India won the match by 10 wickets with openers KL Rahul and Mandeep Singh completing the formalities. Sran was adjudged the man of the match and also the man of the series after he picked two wickets in the next game to help India beat Zimbabwe by three wins and grab the series 2-1.

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