Ahmedabad: England despite a frustrating loss in the last match, made a stunning comeback in the third T20I beating India by 8 wickets on Tuesday(March 16). Jos Buttler slammed a swashbuckling 52 ball 83 at the Narendra Modi Stadium to take the game singlehandedly away from the men in blue.
Jonny Bairstow(40) also contributed a fair amount as England chased down India’s target of 157 in the 19th over. Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 77 took went in vain as the visitors were quite dominant in most part of the match taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
England win the third @Paytm #INDvENG T20I & go 2-1 up in the series. #TeamIndia will look to win the next game & take the series into the decider.
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/mPOjpECiha pic.twitter.com/zkN1xauHQL
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 16, 2021
English skipper Eoin Morgan put India to bat having won the toss which proved to be fruitful for his side. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer showcased a brilliant display of a good old-fashioned raw array of fast bowling testing the hosts from the very first ball.
Wood sent KL Rahul home for a duck with a gem of delivery before getting rid of Rohit Sharma banging in good short delivery. And when Chris Jordan sent last match’s star Ishan Kishan home with another short-pitched delivery, India’s problem with pace and bounce got once- again exposed.
Skipper Kohli alongside Rishav Pant looked good after settling the tempo of the game showing good maturity before tragedy struck as the latter got run amidst chaos in the middle. Kohli took the responsibility on his shoulder and started the onslaught in the final few overs while bringing up another half-century helping India to post a total of 156/9 in the 20 overs.
Wood was the pick of the English bowler with his stunning 3/31 in his full quota. England despite getting hit early in their losing the in-form Jason Roy, were quite steady during their chase. Dawid Milan too didn’t impress much.
However, It was Buttler, who overpowered the Indian bowlers. Chahal was the one who got the taste of the slams. Together with Bairstow, the England wicket-keeper batsman took the game over the line scoring 158/2 in 18.2 overs.
India will have their fortunes hanging of a thread as they gear up for the fourth game on Thursday at the same venue.
