Nottingham, July 10 (Ajit Weekly News) Suryakumar Yadav produced one of his best knocks in international cricket with a stroke-filled 117 off 55 balls. But it was not enough for India to avoid a 17-run loss against England in the third T20I at Trent Bridge on Sunday.
After Dawid Malan’s fine 77 and an unbeaten 42 from Liam Livingstone took England to 215/7, Suryakumar combined immaculate timing, audacious shots and scored runs across all areas in the ground with ridiculous ease to almost single-handedly win the match for India. But lack of support from other batters and some great bowling from England meant India were restricted to 198/9 in 20 overs.
Tall left-arm quick Reece Topley struck with his first ball at Trent Bridge, claiming the faint inner edge of Rishabh Pant’s swipe across the line, going behind to keeper Jos Buttler. Virat Kohli hit India’s first boundary, flicking David Willey over mid-on for boundary and followed up with a clean loft down the ground for six.
But Kohli’s time at the crease was short-lived as he stepped out to slap through covers, but was caught out at short extra cover on the very next ball. Rohit Sharma took two boundaries off Topley, including a one-handed whip off the hips through backward square leg. But on the last ball of fifth over, Topley bowled a slower ball which Sharma pulled straight to deep mid-wicket.
Post power-play, Suryakumar brought out his square drive and wristy whip to hit four and six on successive balls off Willey. He then welcomed Liam Livingstone by striking three fours off his four balls – a cut through backward point was followed by two wristy whips through fine leg.
After an extravagant lofted shot over long-off for a boundary off an attempted yorker from Jordan, Suryakumar brought up his fifth T20I fifty in 32 balls with a single off Topley. Livingstone’s return to the bowling attack got more runs for India as 21 came off the over, with Suryakumar hitting sixes over short backward square leg and long-on while Iyer hammered a huge six over log-on.
Suryakumar’s elegant wristy stroke-play continued when he lofted inside-out over backward point for a six off Richard Gleeson and followed it up by shuffling to sweep through fine leg for a boundary. He did not spare Chris Jordan, sweeping through fine leg and carved past extra cover for back-to-back boundaries and ended the over with a wristy steer over point for six.
Topley broke the 119-run stand when his slower, short ball cramped Iyer for room and sent an edge behind to Buttler. After guiding one over backward point for a boundary, Suryakumar reached his century in 48 balls by steering the low full toss from Willey, splitting backward point and short third man to perfection.
Willey ended the over by trapping Dinesh Karthik lbw after challenging the on-field verdict. Gleeson made it another lbw dismissal in five balls with the scalp of Ravindra Jadeja off a dipping yorker. With 41 needed off last two overs, Suryakumar steered Moeen Ali through third man for a boundary before hammering a six over long-on and hitting another boundary through third man, benefitting from two wides as well.
But Ali bounced back on the fifth ball, having Suryakumar holing out to long-off, ending a remarkable knock at 117. Jordan took out Harshal Patel and Ravi Bishnoi on the last three balls of the innings to seal a win for England.
Brief Scores: England 215/7 in 20 overs (Dawid Malan 77, Liam Livingstone 42 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 2/30, Harshal Patel 2/35) beat India 198/9 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 117, Shreyas Iyer 28; Reece Topley 3/22, Chris Jordan 2/37) by 17 runs
–Ajit Weekly News
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News Credits – I A N S
