Twitter Reactions: England survive Suryakumar Yadav scare to avoid whitewash

England defeated India by 17 runs in the third and final T20I in Birmingham after batting first and posting a huge target of 216 runs for the Indians to chase. A much-changed Indian side fell short in their pursuit of the record chase as Suryakumar Yadav’s magnificent 117 off just 55 deliveries went in vain in the end. In spite of the defeat, India take home the series 2-1.

India’s chase started in the worst possible way as they lost Rishabh Pant in the second over for just one. Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli joined Rohit Sharma at the crease and looked in great nick before hitting one straight to Jason Roy in the circle. Rohit followed suit soon after as the visitors lost their top order inside the powerplay.

Chasing a mammoth total, India looked dead and buried after that atrocious powerplay, but the pair of Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav resurrected the innings with their brilliant 119-run partnership. Surya did the bulk of the scoring as he flayed the English bowlers all around the ground with his incredible 360-degree power-hitting ability. He registered one of the best tons in a chasing effort while becoming the fifth Indian men to breach the three-figure mark in the format.

English bowlers kept picking up regular wickets at the other end, which eventually derailed India’s chase. Reece Topley was the pick of the English bowler with outstanding figures of 3/22 in his four overs, while David Willey and Richard Gleeson chipped in with crucial wickets.

England batters teed off  against the young inexperienced Indian pace bowlers

Earlier in the innings, Jos Buttler elected to bat first after winning the toss, and the English batters were off to a brisk start, as for the first time in the series they didn’t have to face the menacing Bhuvneswar Kumar in the powerplay. Buttler’s poor series though continued as he was dismissed in the fourth over by Avesh Khan after a brief cameo. Jason Roy was dismissed after the powerplay for a sluggish 27 off 26 deliveries.

At the halfway mark in the innings, England were 85/3, that is when Dawid Malan and Lian Livingstone launched a scathing assault against the Indian bowlers. Malan, in particular, was in menacing touch and scored a ballistic 77 off 29 deliveries.

Although Ravi Bishnoi produced a brilliant double-wicket 17th over, England continued with their attack and finished with a massive target of 215 in their 20 overs on the back of Livingstone’s 42 and Harry Brook’s quickfire 19. Harshal Patel and Bishnoi grabbed two wickets each, meanwhile, all the other bowlers had a poor outing, leaking runs in excess of ten runs per over.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the proceedings: