Ahmedabad march 20 :
A new opening combination – and perhaps the best one – of captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma set the tone for India’s highest total against England in T20Is, which was well defended thanks to some crafty bowling both with the new ball and at the death by Bhuvneshwar Kumar as India beat England by 36 runs in the 5th T20I to take the series 3-2.
Batting first, India rode on Kohli’s record-breaking unbeaten 80 and Rohit Sharma’s 64 to post 224 for 2 after being asked to bat first by England captain Eoin Morgan.
In reply, England lost Jason Roy (0) early as Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned him up in the first over.
But Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan took matters in their own hands by stitching a stroke-filled century (130) stand.
India vs England 5th T20I full highlights
At one point, the game hung in balance but it shifted in the 13th over when Bhuvneshwar Kumar came back to dismiss Buttler for 52.
That wicket opened the floodgates for India. Shardul Thakur, just like in the previous match, struck twice in one over (15th) to put India in the driver’s seat. Thakur got Jonny Bairstow for 7 and then cleaned up Dawid Malan for 67.
Hardik Pandya all but ended England’s hopes by getting captain Morgan out for 1. T Natarajan, playing his first match of the series, got the wicket of Ben Stokes in the next over.
Bhuvneshwar ended up with super figures of 2 for 15.
In the last over, Shardul was hit for three sixes but by then it was too late for England. India restricted them to 188 for 8 to win the match comfortably.
Earlier, with no Rahul at the top, Virat Kohli moved himself up the order to open with Rohit. The move worked wonders with Kohli and Rohit sharing a 94-run stand off 54 balls.
Rohit did the bulk of the scoring in their partnership as Kohli was more than happy to enjoy a sensational display of stroke-making from the other end.
Rohit, who was rested for the first two games and did not get much in the next two, enhanced his reputation of a big match player on Saturday.
Most of his five sixes were his trademark shot, the seemingly effortless pull over deep square leg. a treat to the eye were his rasping straight drives off a seriously quick Mark Wood in his first over.
Kohli too pulled Wood into the stands, a shot that got him fully pumped up. It was not entirely a surprise that Rohit got to his fifty with a maximum before playing one on to his stumps off Stokes.
As Kohli paced his innings beautifully at the other end, he had the company of a supremely confident Suryakumar, who carried on from where he left in his debut game.
The Mumbai batsman further increased the intensity of the innings with two consecutive sixes off leggie Adil Rashid. He then toyed with pacer Jordan, hitting him for three fours in a row. His scoop shot reminding all those watching of his exploits in the IPL. That over went for 19, taking India to 133 for one in 12 overs.