England began the match on a excessive – with Saqib Mahmood scalping three India batters in his first over – second of the match – additionally a maiden. England additionally completed the innings on a excessive, with India shedding three wickets within the final over. For a lot of the 17 overs in between, nonetheless, the allrounder duo of Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya dominated the roost to make sure India set England a good goal.
Regardless of Ben Duckett getting England off to a flier and Harry Brook beginning to reduce free within the latter half, the spin twins of Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy then shut the door on England on the Maharashtra Cricket Affiliation stadium right here on Friday evening to offer India an unassailable 3-1 lead within the five-match collection.
Harshit Rana’s inclusion as a ‘concussion sub’ for Dube after the latter was struck on his helmet within the final over might have raised eyebrows. However the pacer did play his position in what turned out to be a fruitful T20I debut as he bowled all 4 overs after being launched into the assault within the twelfth over, choosing essential wickets of harmful Liam Livingstone (edged one which was seaming away to the keeper) and Jacob Bethell (misinterpret a slower ball to scoop it to long-on).
Rana’s final ball, which crashed into the stumps off Jamie Overton’s inside-edge, nearly sealed the deal for India as England was bowled out for 166 with two balls to spare, within the hunt for India’s 181 for 9.
Had it not been for Dube’s exploits with the willow together with Hardik, India’s bowling pack would have discovered itself attempting to defend a below-par goal on a floor as arduous because the adjoining Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
At 12 for 3, with Mahmood’s tempo turning out to be too good for Sanju Samson (pulled straight to deep-square), Tilak Varma (top-edged to third-man) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (chipped to brief mid-on), India was in a spot of trouble. However the southpaw duo of Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh stabilized the innings, with Abhishek displaying his creative strokeplay.
AS IT HAPPENED – India vs England 4th T20I
Quickly after the PowerPlay, Abhishek perished to leggie Adil Rashid’s pace variation. Had captain Jos Buttler caught an edge off Dube’s willow within the slips off the very subsequent ball, England would have taken a agency grip on the sport. However the second Dube despatched Rashid packing over the long-on stands two balls later, it was clear that the burly batter wasn’t within the temper to let go of a possibility that got here his manner solely after being referred to as up as a alternative for Nitish Kumar Reddy halfway by the collection.
With Hardik becoming a member of him within the eleventh over, the duo stitched collectively a quickfire affiliation of 87 runs off 44 balls to swing the pendulum in India’s favour. Whereas Dube dealt in sixes, Hardik discovered huge gaps with precision because the duo notched up their particular person fifties.
Regardless of a comparatively timid finish to the innings, the allrounders had ensured India was within the ascendancy and the bowling pack – with Chakravarthy’s double-wicket effort in his final over, together with an in-form Brook – ensured India pocketed the collection with a sport to spare.