England vs India, 3rd T20I: 5 plays of the game you might have missed
The 3rd T20I was the deciding match of the series and it was a very hard fought one, as India were set a target of 199 to chase by a dominant English batting performance. However, Rohit Sharma’s 56-ball hundred and Pandya’s finishing blitz took the game away from them towards the end of the Indian innings. With a riveting start to the long Indian tour of England, expectations are high for the upcoming 3 match ODI series and 5 match Test series.
Here are some of the plays from the 3rd T20I that you might’ve missed:
Hardik Pandya’s comeback
hat man Hardik Pandya. He was introduced into the attack in the 6th over of the English innings that was off to a rapid start scoring 51 runs in the first 5 overs. This move backfired for captain Virat Kohli as Hardik was taken for 22 runs in his first over, with Jason Roy smashing his first 4 balls for 20 runs.
Hardik was taken off the attack for a few overs after the disastrous first over and bowled the 12th over. Hardik’s next 3 overs went for only 16 runs, and he picked up a whopping 4 wickets in his last two.
If the 4 wickets were not enough for him to hurt England’s chances in the 3rd T20I, he played a very handy innings with the bat as well to lead India home. Promoted ahead of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, Pandya had the cushion of established finishers to come in if his wicket fell and this gave him lots of freedom to play his shots.
After seeing off the first delivery from Chris Jordan, Pandya launched into an assault against the English attack that was both brutal and elegant in his 14-ball 33. The wide yorker plan was decently effective against the Indian batsmen until Pandya came in to bat, deftly guiding the wideish deliveries through backward point to find the boundary repeatedly. They then switched to bowling at his body and he hit those for fours and sixes as well.
It truly was an incredible day for Hardik Pandya as he led India to victory with Rohit Sharma’s magnificent hundred.