England vs India 2018, 3rd T20I: 3 Unnoticed things from the match
After a convincing win in the tour opener against the hosts, India saw an off day at Cardiff to bring it down to the series decider in 3rd T20I at Bristol.
On a yet another hot English afternoon, India won the toss and decided to bowl on a fluffy looking pitch which was believed to offer something to the fast bowlers. Virat Kohli, riding on the policy of horses for courses, made 3 changes to hand Deepak Chahar his T20I debut alongside Siddarth Kaul, who got his 2nd game on this UK tour. England looked confident to play Ben Stokes in place of Joe Root.
The wicket behaved in a peculiar fashion with absolutely no movement for the fast bowlers as the English openers smashed their way to an unbeaten 73-run stand in first six overs. Lower order blitz from the likes of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow saw England post a hefty total of 198 runs in their 20 overs.
Chasing a mountain high 199 to seal the series, India didn’t start in the most promising fashion as Shikhar Dhawan fell early. But it was Rohit Sharma who looked in some form as he blazed his way to a remarkable ton off just 56 balls to see his side on course with the required rate. In the end, some lower order blasting from Hardik Pandya saw India cruise to victory with 7 wickets to spare to win the T20I series.
Here’s a look at some of the things that went unnoticed:
#1 England post their highest ever T20I powerplay score against India
It was a game with all to play for as the hosts started on a positive note, hammering Indian bowlers in all parts of the ground. The openers gave their side a brisk start as Jos Buttler and Jason Roy smashed runs for fun.
They went onto bat their way for less than eight overs to post a 94-run stand in quick time. Roy played the anchor role after a careful start. He blazed a 31-ball 67 with 4 fours and 7 sixes to give his side the real impetus in the beginning.
In due course, England managed their highest T20I powerplay score against the men in blue. It was just a matter of time after the quick start when England mustered 73 runs in the first six overs. This gave the platform for the batters to follow to strike from the ball one. In the end, quick fiery innings from the likes of Stokes and Bairstow, England posted their highest T20I score against India in last ten years.