India outclass England in T20I decider to clinch series 3-2

Scorecard

Earlier, England asked India to bat first in the series decider. India opened with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as KL Rahul was replaced by T Natarajan, who was added as an extra bowling option.

India got off to a dream start as they posted 60 runs in the Powerplay without losing any wicket. Rohit played the role of aggressor in the partnership while Kohli looked to anchor the innings from one end by rotating strike.

The duo stitched together a partnership of 94 runs. Rohit's incredible innings of 64 runs came to an end when he inside-edged one which went on to hit the stumps off Ben Stokes bowling. The opener's 34-ball knock was studded with four fours and five sixes.

Despite the fall of Rohit’s wicket, the flow of runs didn’t stop as Suryakumar Yadav joined Kohli in middle and made a quick-fire 32 with a strike rate of 188.24 but had to return to the dressing room after Chris Jordan pulled off a running one-handed relay catch at the boundary with Jason Roy.

It was the 81-run partnership of Kohli and Hardik Pandya that put a dent on the bowling figures of England bowlers. Pandya, who was promoted to number four this match, bludgeoned the bowlers as he made 39* runs at a strike rate of 229.42.

Virat Kohli made his third unbeaten fifty of the series and registered his highest score of 80* in 52 balls while opening in T20Is.

India’s final total of 224/2 also became the highest score by India against England in men's T20Is overtaking the previous record of 218 made in 2007.

England’s chase had a trembling start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar clean bowled the in-form Roy for a duck in the first over.

Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan replenished the hopes of England chasing down the mammoth target of 224. Buttler played a blazing knock of 52 runs off 34-balls, hitting two fours and four sixes. The duo added 130 runs for the first-wicket partnership.

When it seemed that England were in a dominating position, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in the 13th over, who tipped the scales in India’s favour as he got the wicket of Buttler.

Malan exhibited his T20I prowess as he became the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 T20I runs while in his innings of 68 in 46-balls. He was soon outdone by a knuckle-ball bowled by Thakur, uprooting his middle stump.

With the required rate on the rise, new on the crease, Jonny Bairstow (7) and Eoin Morgon (1) had no option but to try for big hits straightaway.

England looked hapless after losing so many wickets in succession. Requiring 62 runs in the last 2 overs, the lower middle order comprising of Ben Stokes (14), Chris Jordan (11), Jofra Archer, and Sam Curran (14) just batted their way through to fulfill the quota of 20 overs.

The were restricted to 188/8, falling short by a margin of 36 runs.

Bhuvneshwar was awarded the Player of the Match award for his bowling figures of 2/15 which included 17 dot balls in a high scoring match. While Virat Kohli received the Player of the series award for scoring 231 runs with an average of 115.5.

The tour now moves to the ODI format from 23 March.