English batter Liam Livingstone, center, reacts after losing his wicket to India’s Harshit Rana, right, during the fourth T20 cricket match between England and India in Pune, (Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Highlights Story :
Harshit Rana and Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets each as India beat England by 15 runs in the fourth T20I in Pune on Friday. The hosts have wrapped up a 3-1 series win with a victory at the MCA Stadium. . Chasing 182 runs to victory, England were all out for 166 in 19.4 overs.
Varun Chakravarthy also took two wickets to contribute to India’s win. With a huge total to chase, England got off to a solid start by making 62 runs in the powerplay. However, Ravi Bishnoi put the brakes on with two wickets before Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy dismissed three more English batters to dent England’s chase.
Harry Brook tried his bit with a half-century before Chakravarthy brought India into the game with the wicket of Brook. Coming in as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube, the pacer polished the England tail on debut with timely strikes.
Earlier, fifties from Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube powered India to 181/9. Sent in to bat, India lost three wickets in the second over to be 12/3 at one stage before a remarkable stand 87 runs between Pandya (53 off 30 balls) and Dube (52 off 33 balls) pulled the hosts up.
Rinku Singh scored 30 off 26 balls, while Abhishek Sharma made a 19-ball 29 at the top. For England, Saqib Mahmood (3/35) was the most successful bowler with three wickets.Saqib Mahmood, playing in the series for the first time in place of Mark Wood, took three wickets in his first over to reduce the hosts to 12-3.
India plundered 65 runs between the 16th and 19th overs with Hardik Pandya striking 53 from 30 balls and Dube the same score from 34 deliveries as India reached 181-9.
The win means India have clinched the series prior to the finale in Mumbai on Sunday. A three-match one-day international series follows next week.
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Controversy Begins with a Defeat :
Defeat also means England have lost their first assignment with Brendon McCullum as their white-ball coach. As has been the case with his Test team, this was further evidence that his tenure will rarely be dull.
Struggles against spin have been a constant throughout this series and returned again.
Duckett had pulled, flicked and swept seven boundaries before he miscued the final ball of the powerplay to extra cover. Phil Salt played one risky cut off his stumps too many and Buttler got one that bounced to take an edge.
England had found worth in attacking a hard length and the fast bowling all-rounder replaced Dube, who was hit on the helmet by an Overton bouncer, and his pace was ideal for such a tactic. Livingstone nicked the seamer behind for nine and Bethell mis-timed a slower ball to long-on for six.
Only Brook seemed able to score freely against the seamer, who had only batted three times in professional T20s yet replaced India’s number six who rarely bowls.
Regardless, England should probably still have won but Brook, having hit Harshit for two sixes and a four, scooped leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy to short fine leg.
Adil Rashid hit the final ball of the 18th for six to give England hope but Harshit – bowling close to 90mph – expertly closed out the match while England curiously turned down singles in an attempt to give Overton the strike.