India defeated England to register maiden T20 series win on English soil with a massive win in the deciding T20I match at County Ground, Bristol. Winning the toss, India elected to field first. Despite a flying start by the England openers, the Indian bowlers made a superb comeback to restrict the hosts. While chasing, Indian batsmen attacked England and won the match with ease.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field first. England openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler got the team off to a flying start with great power hitting. It was some great hitting by both openers. At the end of 6 overs, England raced to quick fire 73 for 0.
After the powerplay overs, Jason Roy reached his half-century off just 23 balls. Siddarth Kaul dismissed the dangerous Jos Buttler for 34. Both Roy and Buttler added 94 runs for the opening wicket in just 7.5 overs. Deepak Chahar playing his first T20I match for India dismissed Jason Roy for 67 off 31 balls. Alex Hales continued the superb form that he displayed in the last match. Hardik Pandya got the big wickets of England captain Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales in the same over to put pressure back on hosts.
Jonny Bairstow looked in positive touch and made the batting look easy. Hardik Pandya again took 2 wickets in one over to put pressure back on England team. In the last 3 overs, India gave away 23 runs. India restricted England to 198 for 9 in 20 overs. For India, Hardik Pandya took 4 for 38 while Siddarth Kaul took 2 for 35. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled well giving away 30 runs without taking a wicket.
Chasing 199 to win, Rohit Sharma looked in fantastic touch right from word go. Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed by David Willey for just 5 runs. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma smashed the England bowlers to all parts of the ground. Before the power play overs ended, KL Rahul was brilliantly caught at the boundary by Chris Jordan for 19. At the end of 6 overs, India scored 70 for 2.
After the power play overs, Rohit Sharma reached his half-century off 28 balls. Virat Kohli also looked in good touch with attacking stroke play. Both of them added 89 runs for the 3rd wicket. Kohli was dismissed by Chris Jordan for 43.
Hardik Pandya came to the crease and played with positive intent. Rohit Sharma became the first Indian cricketer reaching his 3rd T20I century off 56 balls. He also became the 2nd cricketer after Collin Munro to score 3 centuries in T20I cricket. India won their maiden T20I series win on England soil by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare.
India 201 for 3 in 18.4 overs ( Rohit Sharma 100*, Virat Kohli 43, Hardik Pandya 33*, David Willey 1/37) beat
England 198 for 9 in 20 overs ( Jason Roy 67, Jos Buttler 34, Hales 30, Hardik Pandya 4/38, S Kaul 2/35) by 7 wickets.
England captain Eoin Morgan said: A great start by our batsmen as we just 20 or 30 runs short. Our execution of shots was not brilliant. On the small ground, India bowled well. Hopefully, we can learn as we go along. It was a great series and hope to continue this form in ODI series.
Indian captain Virat Kohli said: The bowlers made an outstanding comeback after the way England openers started. We thought that they would get 225-230. The pitch was really flat, we enjoyed ourselves. Rohit Sharma was outstanding very special but Hardik Pandya was standout. Great to start with a series win.
Man of the match and Man of the series Rohit Sharma said: It was a great pitch to bat on. Assessing the conditions was important. With the wicket being good for batting, I wanted to stay till and help team India win the match. I did not want to panic and played an attacking style.
A record-equalling century from @ImRo45 and he's named Player of the Match and of the Series! 👏 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/2Wqul8D5q6
— ICC (@ICC) July 8, 2018
India won their maiden T20I series win on English soil. The series shifts to ODI’s with the first one to be played on 12th July at Trent Bridge.
