Match report
Well, four and a quarter hours later, we have a winner. And the right winner, India getting it right with the ball when it mattered most. For England, they’ll look back at the first two deliveries of the 17th over as match-defining with Stokes ands Morgan dismissed by consecutive Thakur off-cutters. After so much discussion about the toss and the importance of batting second, the hosts have done it the hard way, setting up a tasty series-decider on Saturday. In closing, good luck to Jim Wallace (and his partner!) in the maternity ward - we’ll have a new OBO baby by the time we return. Bye!
INDIA WIN BY EIGHT RUNS! (England 177-8)
A swing and a miss from the final ball. India hold on to square the series at two games each with the decider coming on Saturday.
20th over: England 177-8 (Archer 18, Rashid 0). Target 186.
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WICKET! Jordan c Hardik b Thakur 12 (England 177-8)
Thakur holds his nerve, Jordan holing out to long-off.
19.4 overs: England 177-7 (Jordan 12, Archer 18). Target 186. Archer swings and makes contact, the ball doesn’t go too far into the offside but he’s taken a chunk out of his bat! Nine off two needed.
19.3 overs: England 176-7 (Jordan 12, Archer 17). Target 186. WIDE! Thakur went outside the off and missed his off-cutter. 11 off three needed! And another WIDE with the full ball outside off missing by a mile this time. Oh dear. Make it ten off three needed.
19.3 overs: England 174-7 (Jordan 12, Archer 17). Target 186. A delay to replace the ball. Sure. JOFRA DOESN’T MIND! HE’S HIT THE SHORT BALL FOR SIX OVER MIDWICKET! 12 off three needed.
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19.2 overs: England 168-7 (Jordan 12, Archer 11). Target 186. Four for Archer down the ground! Great shot! 18 from four needed.
19.1 overs: England 164-7 (Jordan 12, Archer 7). Target 186. Thakur to bowl it, Jordan hacking a single from the first. 22 off five needed.
19th over: England 163-7 (Jordan 11, Archer 7). Target 186. Bhuvi to Archer, who has never faced a delivery for England in this format of the game. With so much pace off the ball, everything needs to go right for batsmen down the order and that’s not the case here - all inside edges and miscues. Then the yorker comes, Jordan keeping it out. To the final ball of the over and Archer does manage to get it away, slicing over backward point for four. 23 needed off six balls!
WICKET! Curran b Pandya 3 (England 153-7)
Bowled by the slower one! Curran swings, Hardik hits. The Indian all-rounder completes his night with the exceptional figures of 2/16. Just about game, set and match with 33 needed from two overs.
18th over: England 153-7 (Jordan 6). Target 186.
17th over: England 147-6 (S Curran 1, Jordan 6). Target 186. Neither Curran nor Jordan have faced a ball and have 46 to find in 22 balls from here for what is becoming an increasingly unlikely England win. Jordan does what he must though, throwing the bat at Thakur’s length delivery, crashing it through cover for four! Whoa - there is that dew factor, a ball spits out of Thakur’s hand and ends up at cover... dead ball it is. He finishes the job though: just seven runs alongside the two crucial wickets he claimed in two balls. England require 39 from 18 balls with Hadrik to bowl over number 19.
Back to middle names for Jim? “Wally Wallace has a ring to it,” declares Martin Bedford. “His partner might think it entirely stupid but would probably be unaware of the sly cricketing reference.”
WICKET! Morgan c Sundar b Thakur 4 (England 140-6)
Thakur’s on a hat-trick! He’s sorted out the two England left-handers in the space of two balls with two off-cutters, Morgan’s sliced drive landing with Sundar on the point rope. Brilliant death bowling!
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WICKET! Stokes c Suryakumar b Thakur 46 (England 140-5)
Stokes pops Thakur’s accurate off-cutter straight down the throat of SKY at long-off! That could be the matchwinning moment.
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16th over: England 140-4 (Stokes 46, Morgan 4). Target 186. Bhuvi is back for the death, hanging outside off to the left-handers from over the wicket - the ball might be wet, but he’s one of the most accurate bowlers in the world. So Stokes adapts! He dances, it’s short outside the off-stump, so he slams the crosscourt forehand through cow corner into the gap for four. It’s what he does. Morgan now, shuffling across his stumps and he doesn’t make contact - missing leg stump by an inch, it isn’t called as a wide - nor should it. And to finish, Bhuvi skids onto Morgan’s pad - another dot! 46 from 24 needed.
15th over: England 132-4 (Stokes 41, Morgan 1). Target 186. So after all that - Stokes’ SIX over extra cover, the best of modern batting, then the Bairstow wicket - 14 come from the over. Morgan takes a single from the one ball he gets to look at from the legspinner, retaining the strike. Chahar finishes with a very handy 2/35.
WICKET! Bairstow c Sundar b Chahar 25 (England 131-4)
The push and pull continues! After Stokes hits Chahar for six, the spinner bounces back with a hard-spun delivery at Bairstow, top-edged to Sundar who takes an easy chance at backward point.
14th over: England 118-3 (Bairstow 25, Stokes 28). Target 186. Bairstow dances at Sundar, who is starting his fourth over, chipping over square leg for two. He goes again, opening up the hips at the point of delivery from around the wicket, getting a good look before slamming the ball through midwicket - that’s four. The calculated attack continues in style, this time taking him for SIX over deep midwicket. He didn’t strike that well, but all the range-hitting practice they do is to make sure shots like that still carry the full journey. Sundar is back over the wicket now and YJB finds the same gap for four more! Along the ground, more in control - from well outside the off-stump, that’s the way to do it. 16 from four balls, will he try again? He won’t - a single to mid-on from the penultimate delivery; Stokes retains the stike with a single of his own. These two have now put on 52 in 31 deliveries with 68 needed form the last 36.
13th over: England 100-3 (Bairstow 8, Stokes 27). Target 186. Great scrap this: no team has been in the obvious ascendancy for more than a couple of overs throughout the match Perhaps mindful of this fine balance, Stokes realises he needs to take Chahar on at some point in this set and when he does, he hits him over his head for SIX! In terms of the final stretch, Kohli has two to come from Bhuvi and Thakur and one each for Hardik, Sundar and Chahar.
“Jim can tell his other half that she can pick the first name,” writes Naren Radhakrishnan, “he picks the middle name and they toss for the last one. One doesn’t question the other’s choice.”
12th over: England 91-3 (Bairstow 6, Stokes 20). Target 186. England, and Stokes, needed that - he jumps on a shorter offering from Sundar and clobbers it over midwicket for SIX. It means the over is bookended with boundaries, starting with a stand-and-deliver slap down the ground. Stokes is now 20 from 12 and building.
“Hello Collo.” Hello, Iain McKane. “The Malan conundrum: these things don’t coincide as they perhaps used to, but I’d trade Dawid missing out on the T20 World Cup, if it means he has a full English summer focusing on and honing his red-ball batting. England may need him to put the grit in the oyster of their middle order in next winter’s Ashes.”
I doubt he’d sign up to that. Nevertheless, all of a sudden a lot riding on how Malan finishes this series on Saturday. To think how high he was riding last Friday, not out at the end, sealing it with a six.
11th over: England 79-3 (Bairstow 5, Stokes 9). Target 186. Ooh, Stokes is a lucky man early in the Chahar over - if Thakur nails a direct hit from short fine leg, he’s gone. With that disaster averted, the England matchwinner dances and lifts the spin over midwicket - it’s not far from Shreyas on the dive, he didn’t come close to getting all of it - but it ends up reaching the rope. A reverse sweep follows and it barely makes it outside of the fielding circle. Two further singles to finish; eight from it. India were also 79-3 at this stage.
10th over: England 71-3 (Bairstow 3, Stokes 3) Sundar’s second, after copping some tap from Jason Roy to finish the power play - no need to worry about him, though. Five runs, no boundaries - can’t ask for much more than that. England need 11.5 an over from here.
John Starbuck has some thoughts, Jim, however unhelpful they might be... “Mrs Wallace might not be impressed by Goose, Beefy, Deadly or indeed Whispering Death, but Boss could work.”
9th over: England 66-3 (Bairstow 1, Stokes 0) Fine bowling from Hardik Pandya - the Indian all-rounder has 1/11 from three overs.
Simon Lea has something for you, Jim in the maternity ward. “Wishing Jim and his other half much happiness today, sure he’ll look back in a year’s time at the line ‘With plenty of time to kill’ and shudder. I won’t be much help in his quest for a suitable middle name (best effort so far is ‘Thighpad’), but his message did remind me of the first words I said to my son when he was born. I said hello, apologised for Brexit and then told him about about the shambolic performance by England in the first test against Bangladesh in 2016. Set him up for a lifetime of being repeatedly let down by the public at large and the England cricket team.”
Perfect! When my Winnie was born last Valentine’s Day, I had to quickly ask Tim de Lisle to take on the OBO that afternoon. It meant she was welcomed on this page after being alive for all of six hours.
WICKET! Roy c Suryakumar b Hardik 40 (England 66-3)
England in strife! Roy holes out to deep midwicket, miscuing his pull shot straight down the throat of SKY. Hardik’s slower ball does it.
8th over: England 60-2 (Roy 35, Bairstow 0) The Malan story continues to be a complicated one, tonight facing 17 balls for his 14. He’s the No1 ranked player in the world, with the highest average of all time in the format, yet he’s the man most likely to be dropped from this team. Chahar gets one ball at Bairstow to complete his successful over ans spins it big, past the right-hander’s outside edge.
WICKET! Malan b Chahar 14 (England 60-2)
Malan bowled reverse sweeping! Leg stump flattened! Chahar, brought into the team for tonight, has done the trick for his skipper.
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6th over: England 56-1 (Roy 33, Malan 13) Nice control from Malan, moving into double figures with his first SIX, lifting over long-off. Thakur drags his length back and Malan wants to steer him but misses - indeed, there’s an appeal for caught behind turned down. No review. So close - I thought he might’ve hit it watching live. Thakur, who bowled so many excellent slower balls on Sunday, gets one to grip and jump now, hitting Malan in the stomach. And he repeats the dose to finish - swing and a miss. Great modern contest.
David Fordham has a middle name for our man Jim in the maternity ward waiting for his first baby to arrive. He could try ‘Rags’ which is what the great Derek Randall used to call himself when he chatted to himself whilst at the crease.”
6th over: England 48-1 (Roy 33, Malan 5) Sundar has bowled a lot of power play overs in this series and is given the responsibility of sending down the sixth here. Malan takes a couple of balls to get off strike - back to Roy now. He was out to off-spin in the second game but that was with the field out - nobody is stopping his sweep shot here, nailed over backward square leg. Shot. Oooh, and a sweet blow follows: SIX over extra cover after opening up the off-side. He does the same to finish, albeit along the floor, closing the power play with another boundary and 17 off the over - important for England.
Hardik conceding five runs from two powerplay overs probably wasn't in England's gameplan chasing 186
— Matt Roller (@mroller98) March 18, 2021
5th over: England 31-1 (Roy 17, Malan 4) Malan DROPPED by Thakur at short third! It’s a mighty effort, tipping it with one hand, but on reflection he might’ve reached it with two and increased the chances of success. Not to be. Hardik gets through the over conceding just three singles, giving him 0/5 from two. They’re precious overs for Kohli from his fifth bowler, two out of the way in the power play.
OBO baby incoming! From Jim Wallace in the maternity ward in Tooting! “Hello Collo.” Jim, we’re all with you. “Following the OBO on the ropey WiFi as we wait for some action of our own... no crowd in India but the hustle and bustle here more than making up for it, the ever chirpy NHS nurses and staff keeping us all going and the odd contraction echoing around the corridors (some reminiscent of particularly pained appeals, NOT OUT taking on a whole new meaning). With plenty of time to kill got to thinking about suitable cricket nicknames I can sneak past my partner into a middle name for our imminent arrival, reckon I’ve got a better chance with ‘Sky’ than ‘Crime’, ‘Afghan’ ‘Arkle’ or ‘The Judge’. Whaddya reckon? Any suggestions?”
I suggest enjoying this frolic while you can! You’ll have a job to do in there soon enough. Do keep us posted, and the very best of luck.
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4th over: England 28-1 (Roy 16, Malan 2) Thakur is an impressive cricketer. He nearly skittles Roy early in the over when trying to put him on the moon but getting a little edge instead, running away for four. No justice for bowlers. Oh, and more runs off the edge, this time the outside of Roy’s blade, down to third man for four more.
“No complaining about how long it took the third umpire in the first innings,” writes Robert F Speed. “The third umpire made quick (and probably correct) decisions in the Chennai test matches, and there was no end of complaint from England about how he made his decisions TOO quickly.”
No complaints about the third umpire taking their time. Not from me, anyway. It’s such a tough job in short-form cricket.
3rd over: England 15-1 (Roy 6, Malan 0) Earlier in the over, Roy glanced a four and Buttler launched a six over backward square, but they’re blows of little relevance compared to Bhuvi’s breakthrough.
“Afternoon Adam.” Hello, Brian Withington! “I think a more nuanced answer to where Buttler should bat in T20 is for him to open when England are batting first, and come in later to finish when chasing. The only exception is where the chase is so high that it demands the full ‘turbo nutter bastard’ response from the outset. Discuss.”
Not great timing on that discussion now that Jos has been and gone, but I still think he’s best placed taking advantage of the field up.
WICKET! Buttler b KL Rahul b Bhuvneshwar 9 (England 15-1)
Huge! Buttler goes! A leading edge to mid-off, the delivery after miscuing out to midwicket. It’s Bhuvi’s legcutter. Game on!
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2nd over: England 2-0 (Roy 1, Buttler 1) Kohli throws the ball to Hardik, essentially his fifth bowler. Big call. But it works, Buttler off the mark first ball to square leg before Roy absorbs a couple of further dots. He’s finally off the mark out to deep midwicket, a single from his ninth ball. We are getting close-up shots of the dew and, according to Nasser, it looks worse than at any stage during this series - interesting. How will that influence Kohli’s rotations? Another two dots to finish, Buttler unable to get Hardik away, swinging and missing. Two runs from the first two overs - wow.
John Starbuck is back: “Even if the Laws were changed to include a one run penalty for every minute over the scheduled time, the batting side would create their own delays, gaming the system even more. What else would you expect?”
Yep, agreed. And Mark Hooper holds the alternative perspective.
“A solution for long T20 games: just let them carry on, we get to watch the cricket for longer!”
1st over: England 0-0 (Roy 0, Buttler 0) Bhuvneshwar starts with one of his lovely hooping outswingers, Roy leaving well alone. From a similar channel, he’s forced to defend before miscuing to the men on the circle on the off-side, then edging from the bottom of the blade to Pant. This is an excellent over. Can Bhuvi complete a maiden? He can, with a ball gets big on Roy. Such a classy operator.
The players are back. Bhuvi v Roy: two of the best. Strap in. PLAY!
“Hi Adam.” Hi, Michael from New York. “A solution for the fact that the games take so long: Give both teams a fixed time for the innings —say 90 mins. At the end of each innings (or at different points during the innings) add one run for each minute over. Do not count time used during reviews.”
There are a number of ways to do this. But, is it in the interests of those selling ads to wrap the game up on time? Probably not. Yes, some of that innings was the third umpire but most of it wasn’t.
Archer finishes with 4/33. They’re his best T20i figures. Along with Wood (1/25), the England pace department did the trick once again. Jordan was expensive, likewise Sam Curran. Rashid went for 39 as well but picked up Kohli with a superb wrong’un so he’s excused.
England require 186
20th over: India 185-8 (Thakur 10, Bhuvneshwar 0) Two balls left and Archer sends down a wide, given on the basis of height. Looks like a bad call live but the replay serves the umpire well. Thakur hammers the next, down through cow corner where there is a gap - four! Archer finishes with a slower ball full toss, he can’t get it away. And that’s that. India have done well there. This should be fun.
WICKET! Sundar c Rashid b Archer 4 (India 179-8)
Catching practice down to third man, steered down the throat of Rashid. But Sundar did get a boundary from the only other ball he faced, squeezed out fine off the bottom of his bat. The third umpire is taking a look to make sure there’s no contact between Rashid’s back boot and the boundary sponge but there’s no conclusive evidence of that so the catch stands. That took 20-odd replays.
This innings was scheduled to finish 35 minutes ago and there are two balls to come. Nothing will change, it's just the way it is now. #INDvENG
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) March 18, 2021
WICKET! c Malan b Archer 37 (India 174-7)
The end of a super little innings from Shreyas, his 18-ball stay coming to an end when picking out deep square leg with a clip.
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19th over: India 174-6 (Shreyas 37, Thakur 4) Clever from Thakur, getting low to steer down to third man, played so well that it beat the sweeper down on the rope for that very shot. It’s but a small blemish on Wood’s fine overall figures, finishing with 4-1-25-1.
WICKET! Hardik c Stokes b Wood 11 (India 170-6)
Ben Stokes, outstanding. On the edge of the circle at extra cover, he had to put in a full-stretch dive to reach Hardik’s slap and so he did, dragging in the chance with just his left hand. It comes from the fifth ball of Wood’s over, which has only gone for three runs so far.
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18th over: India 167-5 (Shreyas 36, Hardik 9) Jordan goes short to begin and Hardik needs no invitation, climbing into his hook and clearing fine leg for SIX! The seamer returns to his familiar back-of-a-length happy place after that, then landing a wide yorker - much better. But Shreyas now gets a chance to then clear his arms, smashing Jordan back over his head then lifting him for SIX over cover. Another tremendous bit of timing. They’ve played some glorious shots in this innings. 18 off it, making 63 from the last five.
17th over: India 149-5 (Shreyas 25, Hardik 2) The TV coverage is trying to give us a look at the dew on the ground - there’s plenty of it, even for this first innings. I suppose they’re already quarter of an hour later, so this stands to reason. All told, nine runs and the wicket of Pant - England would happily take that at this stage.
WICKET! Pant b Archer 30 (India 144-5)
Pant castled by Archer! He slapped him down the ground from the previous ball and tried to repeat the dose but lost his middle stump.
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16th over: India 140-4 (Pant 26, Shreyas 22) Wood will bowl two of the final five, when he went around a bit in the third game. He does so again here with Shreyas playing a thumping pull shot through midwicket - albeit one that Curran might’ve stopped had his dive been better timed. And a fantastic stroke to finish from the same man, steered behind point off the front foot - timed to perfection.
“Hi Adam.” Allo, Jesse Linklater. “I might have a solution to the inherent advantage the chaser gets in T20, especially in India, short of watering the field. It’s the ‘I cut, you choose’ method - or a sort of modified shotgun clause? If you win the toss, you get to declare/bid both what you want to do, and how many runs you’ll give the other team to let you do it. Then the toss-loser gets to either let you have at it, or invoke the shotgun portion of the agreement and claim what you declared for themselves. So for example, Morgan wins the toss and elects to bowl first, and give Kohli +10 runs. To which Kohli says, “That’s ok, we’ll give you the 10 runs, and we’ll chase.” The NFL is considering a similar approach for overtime, where the team getting the ball first has a huge advantage as well.”
I’ve seen this view advanced in the past for Test cricket. Here’s a good piece explaining it by David Franklin.
@GeoffLemonSport @collinsadam for a catch in the deep the referral to the 3rd ump is by the on-field ump doesn’t that imply that he is not sure, so doesn’t that imply his soft signal is not out by definition?
— GB (@gopalbx) March 18, 2021
15th over: India 128-4 (Pant 25, Shreyas 11) This innings is meant to finish, in theory, about now. Make of this what you will. Oh what is that?! Pant has, barely moving a muscle beyond his arms, clipped Jordan over midwicket for what looks to be SIX! Unbelievable batting. In fact, it was only four, but the point remains. Phwoooar.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Colum Fordham. “The dazzling array of young batting talent in India is quite something to behold. SKY, Shreyas, Ishan Kishan, not to mention the wonderful Pant. If India were to replace Rahul with Gill, they would have an even more formidable young line-up. I think India are successfully countering the dew factor today to build up a more competitive total. Further to Oliver Deed’s vaccine punning, I’m sure there will be some short arm jabs on view today.”
England might win this series and they could/should win the World Cup later in the year. But this generation of Indian youngsters might snaffle everything on offer as they mature over the coming years.
14th over: India 120-4 (Pant 19, Shreyas 9) The end of a fine hand from the man playing his first innings. Athers is quite right on TV to note that the soft signal is garbage - how can the call of the central umpire count for anything in a situation like that? It should go upstairs. As Ian Ward adds, replays can be deceptive - we all know that - but it is surely the lesser of two evils. Kohli isn’t happy, which is to be assumed. Shreyas Iyer’s turn and he’s struck a superb cover drive to start - he’s in very good nick. Curran gives him a chance to free the arms from the final ball and the right hander tucks into a cut shot, this time, up and over backward point for another four. 16 runs and the SKY wicket from an eventful and controversial over.
WICKET! Suryakumar c Malan b S Curran 57 (India 110-4)
A big moment, this! SKY launched the previous delivery, Sam Curran’s first, over fine leg for six. Utterly fearless! But the next ball is lapped to Malan down at fine man, diving forward to complete the chance low to the ground. This is going to be a controversial decision for the third umpire whatever happens - with the soft signal given out, he has to find conclusive evidence that the ball wasn’t taken cleanly. In the absence of that, the decision is upheld! Out!
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13th over: India 104-3 (Suryakumar 51 Pant 18) Pant issues a reminder that he’s pretty good at cricket, slamming a pull shot off Stokes through midwicket for four. It’s not often the wicketkeeper is the support man in any partnership but that’s what he is to SKY right now. But it’s Pant again here taking Stokes on, this time past mid-off, beating the fielder inside the circle. Stand and deliver. These two have put on 34 from 26 deliveries - a platform to launch from.
Suryakumar Yadav to 50!
12th over: India 92-3 (Suryakumar 50 Pant 7) Another fine shot, SKY lofting his sweep with precision placement over square leg - four more. He’s been the man most likely for India and now he has a half-century to his name at the first time of asking! A powerful and classy introduction to international cricket, reaching the mark in 28 balls with his sixth four, cut away with power and poise. The depth we have seen in Indian cricket in 2021 so far is quite something.
“Hi Adam.” Hello Tim D. “As the match approaches the hour mark, England are completing their 11th over. This seems to have been par for the series. I remember when T20’s teams suffered run penalties if they didn’t complete the 20 overs within 80 minutes. The idea was that it was supposed to be a rapid fire game, not something played at a slower pace than tests. Morgan is a fine captain but his frequent and lengthy consultations with experienced bowlers are beyond a joke.”
Yup. The simple reason why captains take their time is because why wouldn’t they? Fear of a fine? Please. Clearly makes no dent.
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11th over: India 79-3 (Suryakumar 39, Pant 5) Jordan now for his second over. And he’s through it with just four singles added, making 2/33 from the last five. Rashid to now bowl his fourth.
“Adam.” John Starbuck. “It’s a wonder Adil Rashid isn’t known as ‘Enfield’ considering how often sportswriters tell us ‘he saw him coming’ before his victim’s downfall.” Very good. I might!
10th over: India 75-3 (Suryakumar 37, Pant 3) Two wickets for England between the end of the power play and halfway, including Kohli. On the basis of nothing other than my gut, and for what little it is worth, it is the visitors now ahead here. Handy for Morgan that Stokes has made it through two overs already too, five off this. Over to SKY, who has faced just 21 balls for his 37. Can he keep going?
“If England win this and the final match is also the second up team winning then surely the World Cup is devalued,” says Derek Stocker, coming out of the blocks hard. “Unless at an earlier start so the dew point is factored out. It appears batting/chasing fine in a dew pond but bowling and fielding may be better in a frogman dry suit. Playing at this time of day when the dew begins to settle like invisible mist solely for the TV revenue is wrong.”
I wouldn’t quite go that far but, if you listen to Kohli and those who knows these conditions well, there is an advantage to bowling first and there’s no real way around it short of watering the ground. That’s what Dinesh Karthik suggested on Sky the other day.
On slow T20 over rates, a good point from Mark Butcher.
The Blast has had this mechanism since 2003. 1hr 15 to start the 20th over. 6 run penalty every over behind. 🤷♂️
— mark butcher (@markbutcher72) March 18, 2021
WICKET! Kohli st Buttler b Rashid 1 (India 70-3)
The wrong’un! Kohli was coming and Rashid spotted it, sending down the perfect delivery, between pad and swinging blade and straight into the gloves of Jos Buttler who makes no mistake. It’s rare to say this about the great Virat, but that was an ugly bit of cricket.
9th over: India 70-3 (Suryakumar 35, Pant 0) Just two runs from Rashid’s over, who reinforces his worth every time he bowls.
8th over: India 68-2 (Suryakumar 35, Kohli 1) So then, Stokes straight into the book while the pressure continues to build on KL Rahul who took 17 balls to reach his 14. As Nasser says on telly, you have to catch up after taking that many balls in the power play, so when it doesn’t come off, it makes for a nasty looking scorecard. Call it the Dawid Malan conundrum. Kohli’s off the mark right away, SKY then finishing the over with another fine shot through point off the front foot, racing away for another boundary. Superb placement.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Oliver Deed. “I was wondering together fellow OBO’ers felt the Indian Government’s alleged blocking of vaccine exports to the UK injects an added frisson of excitement to this match. Expect a good dose of short pitch bowling aimed at the batter’s Pfizer. They’ll be plenty of needle between these two sides although let’s hope the sledging does not descend into vial abuse. There may even be the odd poor shot, as neither side are immune to a brainfade. And some very good shots as Suryakumar just demonstrated with that variant of the pull shot. All puns aside, you’d have to say T20 really does showcase the very best of Moderna cricket.”
You’re in good form there, Oliver! Stay healthy, everyone.
WICKET! KL Rahul c Archer b Stokes 14 (India 63-2)
Rahul creates room outside leg but makes dreadful contact, helping a Ben Stokes length delivery straight to Jofra Archer at mid-off.
7th over: India 59-1 (KL Rahul 14, Suryakumar 28) Rashid is back and there’s something you don’t see often from the experienced leggie - a juicy full toss. SKY is up to the task, getting down low to sweep safely behind square for four. Emboldened by that, he advances at Rashid’s next ball, a wrong’un, and smashes it inside-out over cover for SIX! Against the spin, that’s fantastic batting. Will he go again? Not now, happy to retain the strike with a single.
6th over: India 46-1 (KL Rahul 12, Suryakumar 17) Jordan to Rahul, who is struggling to threaten the boundary rope inside this opening stanza. Oh, and now he does, releasing a bit of pressure with a tidy clip around the corner. With fine leg inside the circle, there’s no cutting it off. SKY gets one more chance before the fielders retreat, steering past third man for a second boundary - good batting. So, that makes 45/1 for the power play. Just about Advantage India.
5th over: India 34-1 (KL Rahul 7, Suryakumar 11) SKY (I’m going to go with it) is now lashing Wood through the covers. That’s quite the shot, from the crease - the timing, the wrists. Delightful. Other than that, another rapid and effective over from Durham’s finest.
4th over: India 27-1 (KL Rahul 7, Suryakumar 6) What a way to start your international career! SKY, as the kids call him, gets into line with Archer, throws his front pad in the air and hoicks the quick bumper over fine leg for SIX of the best! This is why they love him.
WICKET! Rohit c & b Archer 12 (India 21-1)
Archer in his follow through, such clever cricket. He found the leading edge with a slightly slower delivery having cranked up the pace earlier in the over. A big early breakthrough for England.
3rd over: India 19-0 (Rohit 11, KL Rahul 6) Mark Wood is fit and quick, hurling himself down the runway time and again. He’s up to 93mph with his second delivery, angling in at the pegs, giving nothing away. Rohit and Rahul have no choice other than to respect England’s best bowler in the series. Fantastic, athletic bowling.
England beginning the third over of the game ten minutes after the first commenced - one of those two sent down by a spinner. It's not just about them, but T20 is a four-hour format now. #INDvENG
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) March 18, 2021
2nd over: India 18-0 (Rohit 11, KL Rahul 6) Archer to Rahul. He gets a single to Roy at point, Rohit kicking a legbye into the onside from a fuller delivery. The quick bouncer follows, Rahul just able to sway his gloves (and head) outside the line as the ball arrives. A nice punch off the back foot to finish, middled into the gap through point for four. That’ll feel nice for a man trying to locate some form. Shot.
1st over: India 12-0 (Rohit 11, KL Rahul 1) SIX first ball! Up and over cover, against the spin of the wrong’un. Shot. India absorbed 25 scoreless balls in their power play on Tuesday, losing 3/24 along the way - different story here, Rohit turning the third ball behing square for four more. It prompts a change in the field, the two men out at long on and deep midwicket. Over to KL Rahul for the final ball of the over, the man under pressure after two ducks in the series, and he’s off the mark with a single to midwicket. It’s tighter than it should be, Rohit having to dive - it’s sent upstairs for a look but he’s well back by the time Buttler takes the bails. Much better start.
The players are on the field. Adil Rashid to once again get the first over, for the third time in the series. Rohit Sharma is facing the first ball. Athers reports that they are back to the pitch they used in the first game of the series, rather than the strip from Tuesday. PLAY!
Here’s what Kohli had to say at the toss.
Toss Update:
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 18, 2021
England have won the toss & elected to bowl against #TeamIndia in the 4th @Paytm #INDvENG T20I.
Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/TYCBHIV89r pic.twitter.com/njhQlUEZwI
Other news today: Ellyse Perry has signed with Birmingham Phoenix for The Hundred. Handy get. She’s described as an “Australian sporting icon” in the ECB release, which is bang on.
🔥 #WelcomeEllyse 🔥 pic.twitter.com/mwxlJjGaq9
— The Hundred (@thehundred) March 18, 2021
So, those teams as named
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar.
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
It’s the same pitch used in the third game. But that hasn’t changed Morgan’s mind about chasing, and why would it after what we’ve seen in this series so far? Kohli says he isn’t concerned batting first.
Ishan Kishan has been left out. I didn’t see that coming. He’s replaced by Suryakumar Yadav, who didn’t get a hit on debut on Sunday. In practice, it is KL Rahul saved. Legspinner Yuzdendra Chalal is also out with fellow wristspinner Rahul Chahar in.
England have won toss, they're bowling first
Eoin Morgan has named an unchanged XI.
“Buttler must open surely!” insists Stuie Neale to get us underway. “Played a blinder. I say unchanged and win toss and chase again. Worked so far!”
The Buttler case really boils down to whether England want to use their best white-ball player of all-time as an opener or a finisher. You can mount persuasive cases both ways. Because Eoin Morgan has so many options to open, maybe the side is, on balanace, with him down the list at the death. On the other hand, it’s compelling to give a guy like Buttler a blank piece of paper with 120 deliveries.
I’ll get off the fence: I’d keep him opening. Sure, Ben Stokes is yet to click as a death-overs slugger, but there’s nobody doubting that he has the skills to pay the bills in this respect. And the captain is pretty handy too, let’s not forget, having clocked 100 caps in the role.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Ruth Purdue. “Congratulations on your award. Your writing and coverage is greatly appreciated by me and many. The ‘newer and more modern’ perspective on cricket that the likes of you and others, such as Geoff, is exceptional and made me into a more thoughtful and less partisan person.”
Ruth is referring to the CMJ broadcasting gong from the other day, which was a nice thing. I’ll use this as an early opportunity to thank everyone from the OBO community who emailed and tweeted through kind messages when it was announced. Most appreciated.
Preamble
Hello world. Welcome to the fourth T20 international at Ahmedabad, where England today have the chance to seal the deal on this five-game series with a third win after claiming the first and third rubbers so far. The extent to which the toss has been the major factor in the games so far? An area of strident debate, which we might interrogate more between now and the start of play.
As for selection table matters, can India seriously justify going into this without Ishan Kishan at the top of the list, where he performed so brilliantly in the host’s win on Sunday? He was shuffled to number three to make room for Rohit Sharma in game three, but logic follows that it’ll be the out of form KL Rahul making way.
For England, it is difficult to see them changing the status quo. If the pitch looks dusty, it might bring Moeen Ali into calculations for Sam Curran, but they are travelling very nicely. The fact that the biggest debate is around whether Jos Buttler should open or finish, well, lets just that’s the definition of a good problem to have.
Right, I’ll hit send on this and we can get talking. Drop me a line at any time, I’ll be at the usual inbox and on twitter throughout.
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