Rohit Sharma ’s magnificent 100 not out and Hardik Pandya’s 4 wicket haul along with quickfire 33 off 14 balls enabled India to beat England convincingly in the 3rd T20I and win the series 2-1 at Bristol.
Chasing a monumental target of 199, India’s innings revolved around Rohit Sharma who scored his third T20I hundred, the only second batsmen after Colin Munro to do so.
Rohit made his intentions clear as he stepped out and flicked David Willey for a six over mid-wicket on the third ball of the innings. He then hammered Chris Jorden for consecutive sixes in the third over.
Courtesy of Rohit’s brutal attack India scored 70 runs in the powerplay despite losing two wickets. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul both departed cheaply thanks to some sensational catching by England after playing some delightful strokes.
Skipper Virat Kohli joined Rohit and brought stability in the chase. Kohli started cautiously and then made full use of the batting friendly conditions. He scored two fours and two sixes in his well-paced innings of 43 off 29 balls. However, the best of the lot was his six over covers against Liam Plunket where he drove the ball with brutal force despite losing his balance.
Kohli too was out courtesy of a brilliant catch. Chris Jorden held on to a powerful Kohli drive in his own follow through to end an89-run partnership. India at that moment were in a sensitive position with 48 needed off 30 balls.
But Hardik Pandya who was promoted at number five blasted two consecutive fours in the 17th over and a six and two fours in the 18th over to take India home.
Earlier, Jason Roy’s fireworks at the top gave England a flying start. Roy and Jos Butler punished India’s inexperienced bowling attack consisting of debutant Deepak Chahar and Siddharth Kaul and ransacked 73 runs in the powerplays.
But then Hardik Pandya came back strongly after conceding 22 in his first over and picked four wickets. India bowled well in the death to restrict England to 198 and that was the deciding factor in the game.
