Yuzvendra Chahal became the first Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Twenty20 Internationals as his 6/25 gave India a comfortable 75-run win and a 2-1 series triumph in the third T20I in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Chasing a challenging 202/6, England were bowled out for just 127, losing their last eight wickets for just eight runs.
In a tough chase, India got an opening right in the beginning as spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had Sam Billings’ number in only the second over with the opener edging onto his pads and it scooped up for an easy catch. Jason Roy played a shaky few shots but managed to establish a platform with Joe Root.
Amit Mishra, however broke the burgeoning partnership, tossing it up way outside off. Roy attempted to go after it and sweeped, but only managed a top edge which MS Dhoni gleefully gobbled up. Mishra finished with figures of 1/23 in his four overs, a rich haul.
Despite Joe Root sticking around and hitting a few good shots, he played a curious knock. He failed to get any sort of momentum going in his 37-ball 42, which ultimately resulted in more pressure falling on his non-striker. The pressure told on Eoin Morgan who despite hitting at a higher strike rate, tried to play one shot too many to Chahal and holed out for a 21-ball 40. To add insult to injury, Chahal dismissed Joe Root with the very next ball.
And then England collapsed They never managed to recover from the twin dismissal of Root and Morgan with Jos Buttler following the procession in the next over. The asking rate proved too big a challenge as Chahal dismissed Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan off his last over to finish with an unbelievable 6/25, the third-best bowling figures in T20I history. Overall, England lost their last eight wickets for just eight runs to collapse and gift India a comfortable 75-run victory.
Brief scores:
India 202/6 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 63, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 56; Liam Plunkett 1/22, Tymal Mills 1/32) beat England 127 all out in 16.3 overs (Joe Root 42, Eoin Morgan 40; Yuzvendra Chahal 6/25, Jasprit Bumrah 3/14) by 75 runs
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