So much competitive cricket has been played, the Test series was scintillating, the ODI series was enigmatic and the T20 series provided the fireworks.
England had won the 1st T20, India won the second T20 now it was 1-1 going into the final T20 match. An extraordinary match unfolded between these two teams, both are fiercely competitive and want to always been on the winning side. In this match India were batting first and they got the fireworks going from the get go. Kohli and Rahul had departed early but there was nothing to fear as there were plenty of big hitters still to come.
In came Raina and Dhoni who built a partnership, and made it rain in boundaries sixes and fours were the call of the day and they delivered. The England bowlers were getting hit around the ground and none of their plans were really working this time round. The Indian batsman had lots of fun, scoring the runs freely and setting an imposing total of 202 runs. England had the batting line up to chase this score, so they wouldn’t have been too worried about chasing the score down as they always back themselves.
England began their innings well, they lost Billings early on but they recovered and were on their way. They looked very comfortable chasing, and Morgan the captain was playing a fine innings alongside the ever reliable Root. Both of the batsman would have wanted to be their till the end but they were bowled out instead. England found themselves 119/3 after that it was a crazy innings. As what unfolded next was a bowling master class by Chahal he went onto grab 6 England wickets in such s short space of time, that England were left shell shocked.
They were left reeling and ended up losing this match and India had won the T20 series. This concluded England’s tour of India, but they didn’t end on the high note they would have wanted but India were jubilant in their victory and it was very well deserved as they thoroughly outplayed England in this match especially.
Post match presentation credit (espncricinfo.com)
Virat Kohli: “Coming back here after a while, a long time since we played the IPL final here. The occasion demanded us to be at our very best. We lost all three tosses, similar to the Test series as well, and we’ve won all three series. It’s not a bad thing when you have MS Dhoni behind the stumps and experienced guys like Ashu bhai and Yuvi pa. I’m taking advice from them whenever possible, they’re so intelligent, a lot of credit goes to them. Mishra’s two overs, and that one over from Jordan to Yuvi, that changed the momentum. It pushed us past 200, and that gave us the psychological advantage. Having two legspinners on a dry wicket, we always knew we would get a few chances. Mishy started it, and then Chahal took five wickets in two overs – he knows these conditions, he knows how to bowl here. I have a lot of faith in him, and he plays with a lot of confidence. He has a lot of skill and he has the character as well. I wanted to send [Dhoni] up the order, he’s the one who says he’ll come in later, that will give the team better balance. Come the big game, even in the one-day series, series decider, he stepped up, and he stepped up again today. It’s a memorable series win for us, the whole tour. It’s been a brilliant couple of months for the Indian team, going forward we know exactly what to do in each format.”
Yuzvendra Chahal is the Player of the Match. He doesn’t get interviewed, for some reason. That’s because he’s the Player of the Series as well, so he’ll do his interview now.
“It felt good because I’m playing an India match in Bangalore for the first time,” Chahal says. “It always feels like home. I’ve bowled in the Powerplay before in the IPL, and Virat has confidence in me that I can do that. In the start, I plan that batsmen will want to go for their shots because it’s a small ground, so I have a chance for wickets. I bowl a fuller length, so I have a chance for lbws if they miss the sweep and reverse-sweep. Never dreamed I’d get six wickets.”
Eoin Morgan: “We made a fatal error in losing two in batsman when we were going so well. Outstanding bowling from Chahal, and India put in a performance worthy of winning the series. We could have done with myself or Joe getting 70 or 80 but it wasn’t meant to be tonight. Beautiful wicket to bat on, very small boundary, and altitude as well. We would have taken 190 at the start of the game. Our batting performance was possibly the worst in the last two years, but we won’t necessarily dwell too much into that.”