India vs England 3rd T20I: MS Dhoni’s maiden fifty, Yuzvendra Chahal’s six-for, England’s 8 for 8 and other highlights from Bengaluru contest

England at one point cruising in the chase, lost 8 wickets for as many runs to hand India a 75-run win in the third T20I at Bengaluru.

Some matches can be written about, some need to be experienced. This was from the second category. Cricket can be lovely, at times nightmare, especially for ones who earn their living out of it. England at one point cruising in the chase, lost 8 wickets for as many runs to hand India a 75-run win in the third T20I at Bengaluru. Yuzvendra Chahal finished with a six-for and last five wickets came in a span of 10 balls. Now, imagine the plight of a live blogger? The win in the series decider has now ensured Virat Kohli a hat-trick of series win against England.

The tour began on November 9, last year. Yes, the very day when 500- and 1,000-rupee notes were banned and when Donald Trump triumphed over Hillary Clinton. England have been here. The Test series went 4-0 in India’s favour; the ODI series was won 2-1; and the same result ensued in T20Is. Let us glance through the highlights:

No Shamsuddin! Umpire C Shamsuddin was under fire due to some of the decisions that went against England at Nagpur. Hours before the decider was played, he pulled out from the game citing fitness and his replacement was the much younger Nitin Menon. The Indore umpire is only 33. In fact, four Indian cricketers (MS Dhoni, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh and Amit Mishra) who took field today were older than him.

That is not something one comes across everyday in cricket.

Pant gets cap: Rishabh Pant was handed his T20I cap by former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim. An exciting left-handed batsman, Pant made his first appearance for India. At 19 years 120 days he became the youngest to play T20Is for India. His Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma was 19 years 150 days when he had made his debut.

Proud moment for Rishabh Pant as he gets his #TeamIndia Cap #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/AKcadcGpaK

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2017

 

Angry Kohli: Kohli walked out with KL Rahul to open in Bengaluru. The red jersey was replaced by national blues this time. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) openers were expected to have a good understanding, but Rahul denied a risky run when Kohli called for it. Unfortunately, Kohli had hared out of the crease. Worst, their former RCB teammate Chris Jordan flicked it to the stumps resulting in Kohli’s run out.

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There was silence at Chinnaswamy and Kohli glare to Rahul said it all. It was not Rahul’s, but he could have made a clearer call. Kohli also had a few words to say to his partner before calming down and walking out.

Raina is back: Jordan had given away only 3 runs in his first over. He was then trusted with the responsibility of bowling the final over of the Powerplay. Till then Raina had been slogging like there was no tomorrow, missing a few but mostly connecting.

Raina swung his bat at Jordan. He did not connect well, but there was enough meat to ensure it sailed over deep mid-wicket for six. Three balls later, Raina whipped one off his whip to get another six over long-leg.

Raina was back. He went on to slam 5 sixes in his innings of 63 that came from 45 balls. He later caught a stunning catch, getting his balance act right near the boundary ropes.

MS Dhoni’s first fifty: It was a smart move by India to promote Dhoni to No. 4. He supported Raina well and played some signature street-smart strokes to keep the scoreboard moving. There were 2 sixes in the innings as well.

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Most importantly, Dhoni finally brought up his maiden T20I fifty. He broke Ireland’s Gary Wilson’s record (42) of taking most innings before registering a fifty in this format. This was Dhoni’s 66th T20I innings. He eventually departed in the final over after scoring a 36-ball 56.

Yuvraj rekindles Broad memories: Everyone expected Pant to walk out at the fall of the third wicket, but Yuvraj emerged from the dressing-room to the surprise of everyone. Till the end of the 17th over Yuvraj had got to play all but four balls for as many runs. Dhoni took a single off the first ball of the 18th over, bowled by — once again — Jordan.

The order for rest of the over went for 6, 6, 4, 6 and 1. From the classic Yuvi hoicks to the short-arm jabs, it was masterful batting that rekindled memories of his Durban onslaught against the same side, a decade back.

There were no 6 sixes but once again, Dhoni witnessed the carnage from the best seat. Yuvraj played his part with a 10-ball 27, doing enough to help India’s total go past the 200-mark.

Chahal’s first, livid Dhoni and comedy of errors: Nehra-ji started with a maiden. Impressive. The next over was bowled by leg-spinner Chahal. He was greeted with an incredible reverse-slog for a six by Jason Roy. A leg-bye saw Sam Billings take strike for the first time.

Billings was dismissed off the first ball. An inside-edge on to the pad that lobbed to Raina at slips.

The next ball could have seen the end of Roy. Looking to flick, Joe Root edged one that rolled to mid-off, where Kohli made a diving stop and threw it back to Chahal. Meanwhile, Roy had sprinted to the striker’s end. Chahal, who could have run Roy out with ease, threw at Dhoni’s end in the haste of the moment; he had probably been under the impression that Root had left his crease as well.

Basics flouted and an opportunity missed! Dhoni was seen fuming. You do not see Dhoni get so much angry.

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There was more was in store. Roy glanced towards fine-leg and the ball found the gap in between Nehra and Mishra, two of India’s slowest fielders. A long chase later, Mishra beat Nehra to the ball. Looking to slide, Mishra bumped his knee into ground. He tumbled, rolled 360°, made it look as awkward as possible but managed to save a run.

There were a few of us rolling in the office and (I believe) around the world. Mishra would later speak about the incident, “My teammates are saying I am getting better with fielding.”

Mishy-bhai’s day out: Mishra was immediately brought into the attack after the Powerplay. England were going all guns blazing. Mishra immediately removed the dangerous Roy for a 23-ball 32.  England, going at 9.16 at that stage, were pushed back. A run came from Mishra’s over along with Roy’s wicket.

He would then go on to finish with 4-0-23-1. Had Yuvraj caught Root, he would have added another to the tally. But it was his tight bowling that put England under pressure and what happened next was madness.

Chha-haul: 86 from 7 overs was possible. England had Eoin Morgan and Joe Root at the crease. Chahal had given away 19 from his 2 overs with the wicket of Billings. The rest of the England innings can be summed up as WW…W1111W.4W.WW.W.

From 119 for 2 in 13.2 overs England collapsed to 127 in 16.3 overs. Chahal had claimed 5 of the 8 wickets to fall, while Jasprit Bumrah got 3 of them.

Chahal’s 4-0-25-6 are the third-best bowling figures in T20Is, the first two belonging to Ajantha Mendis. In all earnest, Chahal admitted, “I never thought I would claim a six-for in T20Is.”

And it is a wrap! Test series 4-0, ODI and T20I series 2-1 #INDvENG #TeamIndia @Paytm pic.twitter.com/IX9u2vheCk

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2017

 

CHAMPIONS #TeamIndia #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/S0ZTbDUsKf

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2017

 

Chahal went on to bag the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards. India won by 75 runs, and took the series 2-1.

As I write this, I am still dazed about what happened. So are many English fans and Indians too. Just like Alan Butcher, Alex Tudor and co.

#INDvENG Wtf……!!

— Hal-Al Butcher (@abutch58) February 1, 2017

 

Seems like I have missed some madness in the #T20

— Alex Tudor (@alextudorcoach) February 1, 2017

 

These things sum it up. Meanwhile, Kohli who has lost his first-ever Test, ODI and T20I as captain kept the record of winning. He has now won his first Test, ODI and T20I series as full-time captain.

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