Highlight
- David Malan played a brilliant innings of 77 runs in 39 balls.
- Suryakumar played an innings of 117 runs in 55 balls and kept India on target.
- India sealed the three-match series 2-1 with wins in Southampton and Birmingham.
Despite India’s 17-run loss to England, Nottingham had Suryakumar Yadav special, delivering a 360-degree masterclass to his maiden century in the third T20I on Sunday.
David Malan played a brilliant knock of 77 off 39 balls as England ended India’s second-string attack to end a mammoth score of 215 for seven.
Suryakumar (117 off 55 balls) kept India in the hunt with his classy effort, but the other batsmen lacked the support of the other batsmen in the chase. India’s innings ended at 198 for nine in 20 overs.
India sealed the three-match series 2-1 with wins in Southampton and Birmingham. India were on the back foot at the start of the run chase and struggled to 31 for three in five overs.
opener Rohit Sharma (11) and Rishabh Pant (1) were killed cheaply and it was another failure for Virat Kohli (11), who was caught at cover while trying to make a third consecutive hit after collecting a boundary and a straight six off David Willey.
Suryakumar brought India back into the game with a 119-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer (28 off 23), spectators of his teammate’s brilliance for the major part of the partnership. As he often does, Suryakumar played with the opposition bowlers and took his shots around the ground.
The highlight of his scintillating innings was two lofted square drives from fast bowlers Richard Gleeson and Kris Jordan, which went all the way for six.
He became the fifth Indian to score a century in T20 Internationals by opening the face of the bat and guiding a low full toss off a willie between backward point and short third man. His innings included 14 fours and half a dozen sixes.
Suryakumar single-handedly brought the equation to 66 off 30 balls and dismissed the partners at the other end.
Before that, Captain joss butler (18 runs in 9 balls) and Jason Roy (27 off 26) helped England reach 52 for 1 in six overs. Malan and Liam Livingstone (42 not out on 29) then put on an entertaining 84-run partnership to set the stage for a huge total.
India have rested their front line bowlers after the series is already sealed Jasprit BumrahNarrate Bhuvneshwar Kumar And Yuzvendra ChahaliApart from star all-rounder Hardik Pandya,
The Indian next-gen was taken to the cleaners by a power-packed England batting lineup, which had disappointed in the first two matches. Ravi Bishnoi’s two for 30 in four overs was the only silver lining in the normal bowling performance.
Buttler punished the inexperienced Umran Malik during his brief stay, hitting two fours and a six in the Indian’s opening over to score 17 runs. Avesh Khan foxed Buttler with a slow ball on the stumps.
After Roy was caught behind Malik, Malan switched gears and played the proper cricket shots he is known for. He moved the spinners comfortably to the maximum and was quick on the pull and cut against the fast bowlers.
Malan hit a slog-sweep out of five sixes Ravindra Jadeja Over square leg, and a pick-up shot from the top of the cow corner was a rush on a short full toss.
As he often does, Livingstone hit sixes and hit four of them and helped England cross 200 with Harry Brooke (19 runs) and Chris Jordan (11 off 3). Livingstone got a life when he was dropped in the deep by Virat Kohli. ,
England scored 129 runs in the last 10 overs. Malik leaked the most runs for India, ending with figures of one for 56 in four overs.
All said and done, India went on to win the three-match T20I series 2-1. They will now take on England in the 50-over format from 12 July at the Kennington Oval in London.
(Inputs PTI)