Time to call it a night. India were just too good for England, who did well to hang in there for three-quarters of the match, and then fell apart. To the Virat, the spoils.
Thanks for your company and your correspondence. A more Guardian-ish match report will be along soon, and we’ll be back on Tuesday with the first OBO of the ODI series in Pune, where play will start at 8am GMT sharp. Is there time to send for Alex Hales?
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The leading wicket-taker in the series was Shardul Thakur, who sneaked past Jofra Archer at the death. One day, a cricket historian will look at the series averages and scratch her head, because she will find 37 of the 50 wickets to fall to bowlers being taken by the seamers, and only 13 by the spinners. Axar Patel, the scourge of England in the Tests, didn’t even take one.
Not everyone is happy with Kohli. “This,” says Ram Sridhar, “is exactly why I rate Kane Williamson much higher than Virat Kohli for his on-field ethics, professionalism and empathy alongside his batting elegance. VK might be one of Top 2 batsmen with a phenomenal 50+ average across the formats, but like Johnson (veteran of sledging) – well, most of the Aussies are – and Anderson (again one of the best but used to sledge the tourists a lot), he distracts his opponents with his unwarranted antics. KW is an absolute gem.”
And here’s a match report from the Press Association.
Kohli says he’d like to continue opening, and will do so in the IPL. He loved the way his team played today: “I think it was a complete game from us.” Before the IPL, there’s an ODI series against England – and India, with two series wins in their pocket, will now be favourites for that too.
Player of the Series is ... Virat Kohli. Fair enough: he was easily the highest run-maker, with 231, and he was only out twice. He made 59 more than the next man, Buttler, at the same strike rate of 147. And all this after a run of poor form. He’s a phenomenon.
Player of the Match is Bhuvi Kumar, and rightly so. This was a classic example of the way a match full of runs is decided not by the batsmen, but by one good spell of bowling. In fact one over, the 13th of the England innings. “Get Buttler!” was the instruction, and he did.
The Gamechanger of the Match is Rohit Sharma, who didn’t so much change the game as shape it by making 64 off 34 balls.
The Joot of the Match award goes to Malan and Buttler for their partnership of 130 off 12.3 overs. It seems a long time ago now, but it was excellent while it lasted. And Malan, back on form today, has become the fastest man to 1000 runs in T20 internationals.
Talk of the devil: here’s Eoin Morgan. He feels it’s been an extremely productively series, though he would have liked more turn in the pitches. “India outplayed us in certain big moments in the game and thoroughly deserved to win,” he says. “[But] we played some really good cricket both today and in the whole series, so there’s a lot of positives for us to build on.” Asked to elaborate, he mentions “the PowerPlay bowling... especially Adil Rashid”.
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India are now firm favourites for the T20 World Cup in October. They approached this series one way, tinkering, experimenting, trying new things. England went the other way, keeping an unchanged team, putting their faith in pace over spin, and spurning Moeen Ali, in a way that must have driven Joe Root mad.
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“Thanks for the coverage! Great as always,” says Nick Butler. It’s a pleasure. “A loss is basically what England deserve for prioritising a personal grudge (Morgan’s against Hales) over picking the current highest-scoring T20 batsman in the world and proven performer at this level. And I don’t buy into the guff about Morgan having deserved the right to be like that - just because of a lucky ricochet off the bat in the World Cup final. Sort yourself out Morgan and drop the ego/attitude.”
I wouldn’t be quite as harsh (he’s a superb captain, not just a lucky general), but I agree that he doesn’t have the right. A player should only be banned through a proper process, which allows him (or her) to make their case and have a lawyer. Nobody should be ostracised on a captain’s whim, however excellent that captain is. It was wrong when it happened to Kevin Pietersen, and it’s still wrong now.
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The toss was on England’s side, but the force was with India, along with home advantage and the edge supplied by the IPL, which gives their fringe players a priceless taste of pressure. Today they finally dropped KL Rahul, who is out of form, and so they got a flying start. Rohit was imperious, Kohli subdued but effective, Yadav audacious, Pandya brutal. Buttler and Malan kept England in it for 11 overs, but when Kumar surgically removed Buttler, England regressed about 15 years and simply wilted. They lost four wickets for 12 in 17 balls, and the game was up. The best thing they did today was a piece of fielding: Chris Jordan’s dash round the boundary to hand a catch to Jason Roy, who took it and roared with laughter.
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India win by a country mile
20th over: England 188-8 (Curran 14, Rashid 0) Sam Curran joins Jordan in hitting one defiant six, a lovely square drive off Thakur. And he manages another off the last ball, swinging straight down the ground. He’s made his point – why did you demote me? – but India have won the match, and the series, in style. They went behind twice, equalised twice, and then galloped to victory with a huge score and a superb salvage act in the field when Malan and Buttler were threatening a heist. The better team won.
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Wicket! Jordan c Yadav b Thakur 11 (England 174-8)
Chris Jordan manages one six, over long-off, but then tries for another and picks out the man at deep square.
Wicket! Archer run out 0 (England 168-7)
19th over: England 168-7 (Jordan 4) Jofra, whose T20i batting career began so nonchalantly the other night, finds himself making the difficult second album.
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Wicket! Stokes c Pant b Natarajan 14 (England 165-6)
With England now needing a six off every ball, Stokes tries to carve something out against Natarajan’s length ball and succeeds only in getting a nick.
18th over: England 163-5 (Stokes 12, Jordan 4) Kumar returns and bowls a few wides, but it doesn’t matter. He finishes with 4-0-15-2 and the knowledge that he made the difference.
“Just in from some gardening, so not keeping up,” says Martin Hamilton. “Puzzled by this statement from earlier: ‘Nobody succeeded for England, except Stokes with the ball and Jordan with that fabulous assist for Roy’s catch.’ Er Rashid?” Yes, fair point – he was very decent. But there’s 1-31 off four overs, which Rashid managed, and then there’s 2-9 off three, which is what Kumar had after he made the crucial incision.
17th over: England 156-5 (Stokes 12, Jordan 1) Stokes won’t go down without a fight. Facing Natarajan’s left-arm seam, he drives arrow-straight for four, then spots a gap at long-off, make a bit of room and drives for four more. But even 12 off the over is not much use: England need 69 off the last three.
“Oh, well, never mind,” says John Starbuck. “India may well be unbeatable in their own backyard. But it’s been a pretty good series with some genuinely exciting games and we can look forward to a right tussle in the T20 World Cup.”
16th over: England 144-5 (Stokes 1, Jordan 0) England promoted Morgan above Stokes, to no avail, and now they’ve sent in Jordan ahead of Sam Curran, for what that’s worth. I wonder whose decision it was – Buttler’s maybe. Anyway, it’s academic: India have taken complete control in the past five overs, grabbing four wickets and conceding only 27 when England needed twice that.
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Wicket! Morgan c sub (Rahul) b Pandya 1 (England 142-5)
Kohli has gone off the field, knowing the series is won. His replacement, KL Rahul, has an easy catch at midwicket as Morgan hooks a bouncer and gets a top edge. England’s middle order has collapsed in a heap.
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15th over: England 142-4 (Morgan 1, Stokes 0) So, two new batsmen in, and 83 needed off the last five overs. Not even Ben Stokes can salvage this one.
Wicket!! Malan b Thakur 68 (England 142-4)
A swing, a miss, and the end of a fine innings that just ran out of steam in the last few overs. Malan, like Bairstow, knew they needed a big over, but just couldn’t make it happen.
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Wicket! Bairstow c Yadav b Thakur 7 (England 140-3)
Another one! Bairstow goes for a carve over point and hits it pretty well, but straight to SKY. Game over, unless Eoin Morgan can go bananas from ball one.
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14th over: England 136-2 (Malan 67, Bairstow 3) Buttler’s demise came after 13 balls without a boundary – that’s all it takes to raise the pressure. And now, as Bairstow gets his eye in, Malan still can’t find a four, so they scrape only six off the over and suddenly the required rate is almost 15. England need 89 off 36 balls: in other words, they need a huge over now.
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13th over: England 130-2 (Malan 65, Bairstow 0) Full marks to Kohli for going back to Kumar ahead of schedule. He beat Malan outside off with an outswinger, then beat Buttler before dismissing him. He’s bowled the perfect over, and shown that it’s not necessarily a batsman’s game. In fact, the flatter the pitch, the greater the difference one wicket can make. England need 95 off 42 balls, which should be too much, even for them.
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Wicket! Buttler c Pandya b Kumar 52 (England 130-2)
Kohli summons Bhuvi Kumar, who makes the breakthrough! Buttler, after missing a reverse flick, mistimes a cut and gives a simple catch to Hardik Pandya at deep extra. Advantage India.
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12th over: England 127-1 (Malan 64, Buttler 51) Kohli goes for his signature review, at the last second, in a rather desperate attempt to get rid of Buttler with an alleged caught behind, but there’s no bat on it. Buttler responds by carting a single to reach his fifty, off 30 balls. That may be the fastest performance ever from someone playing second fiddle. Are you one of the Chieftains in disguise?
“I hope you are well,” says Ruth Purdue. I am, thanks, touch wood. Hope you are too! “I remember Ed Smith talking about Malan while at his previous job on TMS. He was always explaining that Malan’s timing and technique were excellent and that he was a clean striker of the ball.” Interesting.
11th over: England 120-1 (Malan 63, Buttler 48) Back comes Natarajan, and Malan licks his lips. A tuck off his legs takes him to an excellent fifty, made just when his team needed it, and so did he. He celebrates with a six over extra cover that is so good it could be a mirror image of Rohit. And then another four, down the ground. England are now five runs ahead of India, who were strangely subdued in their 11th over.
“If catches win matches,” says Colum Fordham, “then Chris Jordan’s astonishing effort in partnership with Jason Roy may be the miracle England needed to get out of the mire they currently find themselves in.
“Have to disagree with Roy in the Composite XI, though. Surely Rohit Sharma has to be in it in this form. And no Pant, no party.” Yes, Rohit gets in now – to be fair, the selectors (I, me and myself) were meeting before this game.
10th over: England 104-1 (Malan 48, Buttler 47) The first ball of Chahar’s second over is fractionally short and pulled for six by Buttler. He follows up with a push for two, which brings up the hundred partnership, the first of this match. But at the halfway stage, India were ahead – with 110-1 – and WinViz has only increased England’s chances from 25 to 31pc.
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9th over: England 91-1 (Malan 46, Buttler 37) Pandya is back, which is a bold move as Malan scores faster off him than off the other Indian bowlers. A bouncer is called wide, and then a fuller ball is eased past mid-off for four. Eoin Morgan’s faith in Malan has paid off here, but the required run-rate has crept up above 12. Two a ball: fine off the last three overs, but very tricky for more than half an innings.
8th over: England 82-1 (Malan 39, Buttler 35) Kohli sends for his leg-spinner, Rahul Chahar. He beats Buttler in the flight and still goes for six as Buttler’s hands, so quick and strong, rescue his feet from embarrassment and send the ball sailing into the empty stand at long-on. By the end of the over, Buttler is hitting a six off the back foot, over extra cover. Outrageous. He has 35 off 20 balls, and surely holds the key to this chase.
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7th over: England 67-1 (Malan 38, Buttler 24) Thakur stays on for a second over, a rare honour. Malan plays that easy cover drive of his again, timing it even better and picking up four as the sweeper can only divert it into the Toblerone. But the rest of the over brings only a single, which is a fine recovery from Thakur after his first over went for 14.
“San Francisco calling,” says Ian Jefferson. “You watch England play football, you know they’ll come up short. You watch England play T20, they’ll get there with seven balls to spare.”
6th over: England 62-1 (Malan 33, Buttler 23) Kohli summons his latest recruit, Natarajan, who seems to be one of those sportsmen with only one name, like Pele or Fred. He’s a waspish left-armer, Sam Curran with extra height. Malan sees a full one and creams it over the covers for four, but otherwise Natarajan keeps it tight. That’s the end of the PowerPlay, with England making a good fist of it. At this stage, India were dawdling along at 60-0.
5th over: England 55-1 (Malan 27, Buttler 22) Kohli makes another change, bringing on Shardul Thakur, who starts with a half-tracker. Buttler pulls it for six, his first of the evening. Malan plays a tickle for four, an upgrade on those leg byes. Buttler plays more of a cow shot, swinging from the crease, but his top edge lands safely in no-man’s-land at deep cover. He has 22 off only 12 balls, and Malan has his highest score of the series.
4th over: England 41-1 (Malan 22, Buttler 13) Kohli turns to Washington Sundar, who has given Malan a headache or two. He takes a single and Buttler cashes in, taking a step down and playing a gorgeous straight drive for four. The he steps away and gets a force over extra cover, four more. When Sundar goes round the wicket, Buttler changes tack and dabs into the on side for a well-run two. England have reached ten an over: can they keep it up?
3rd over: England 28-1 (Malan 21, Buttler 1) Buttler finally gets let in by the bouncer at the door. Wary of Kumar’s swing, he does play himself in – dot, dot, single, all from careful pushes into the ring. Meanwhile Malan continues on his merry way, with a majestic cover-drive, played from the crease. Even a missed flick brings four leg byes. Fora bunch of no-hopers, England are doing OK.
“If that’s a prelude to the World Cup T20,” says Guy Hornsby, “I think I’ll pass.” Shame! It’s a lot of fun in its way.
2nd over: England 19-1 (Malan 17, Buttler 0) Hardik Pandya, who was batting about 15 minutes ago, is now opening the bowling. Malan, knowing he can’t afford to play himself in as he normally does, pulls consecutive balls for four, six, and four more. The only short ball he doesn’t take on turns out to be a wide. Jos Buttler hasn’t faced a ball yet. Game on??
1st over: England 1-1 (Malan 1, Buttler 0) Dawid Malan, who owes England runs for once, flirts with disaster as his first ball raps him on the thigh pad, but it’s too high to be worth a review. A superb opening salvo from Kumar, swinging the ball both ways and reducing England’s chances from slim to barely visible at all.
“Your nephew [17th over] makes a good point,” says Damian Clarke. “I happen to think that people shouldn’t be allowed to walk their dogs near a cricket ground. I have taken more than one diving catch in the outfield where the initial heroic euphoria has been rapidly replaced by the horror of what is now liberally smeared on my shirt and trousers.”
Wicket! Roy b Kumar 0 (England 0-1)
A swing, a miss, and a horror start to a daunting chase.
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India pile up 224
20th over: India 224-2 (Kohli 80, Pandya 39) The dubious honour of bowling the last over falls to Jofra Archer. Kohli pulls him for four, then gets four more as Bairstow thinks he’s saved two on the cover boundary, only for the replay to find that he’s touched the Toblerone. Kohli finishes with 80, to go with his two 70s earlier in this series, but the even more striking stat is the partnership with Pandya: 81 off 40 balls. Nobody failed for India. Nobody succeeded for England, except Stokes with the ball and Jordan with that fabulous assist for Roy’s catch.
“Can’t wait to see what WinViz makes of England’s chances here,” says Brian Withington, with a pinch of salt. “ I wonder if its algorithm can handle imaginary numbers?” Ha. It’s giving England 25 per cent. I’d make it about a quarter of that. See you shortly.
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19th over: India 211-2 (Kohli 68, Pandya 38) In straining not to offer width outside off, England’s bowlers have been straying onto the pads. Jordan does it now and Pandya plays a simple flick for six. Next ball, knowing the length will be dragged back, he goes deep in his crease and pulls for six more. As Kohli steps away to leg, Jordan manages a tiny victory, a full ball just inside the blue line that brings a rare dot. But the next ball is square-driven for four, and Jordan has been even more expensive than Wood – 4-0-57-0. A bowler known for varieties has ended up with a Heinz.
18th over: India 193-2 (Kohli 63, Pandya 25) Kohli, facing Wood, plays a switch hit for once in his life, and misses it. He makes up for it next ball, nailing a pull with fast hands, and then the next ball is another pull, played from down the track. Is he eyeing a hundred? That’s Wood done, and the startling economy he achieved in the previous games has left the building: his figures are 4-0-53-0.
“On the plus side for England,” says Geoff Wignall, “Dawid Malan could hardly have asked for a better opportunity to cement his place (unless Roy and Buttler knock off the required number). I think I’d like England’s chances a bit better if Moeen was also there though. Any idea what he’s up to these days?”
17th over: India 181-2 (Kohli 52, Pandya 24) Pandya does it again, muscling Jordan’s length ball past extra cover – a sort of early cut. Dinesh Karthik, on commentary, thinks England have a good chance here. I’m not so sure: everything will need to go horribly right.
And here’s an email from Arthur de Lisle, my nephew, who is ten. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he writes, “but it sounds good. I think Wicket would be a good dog name. You wouldn’t want to walk the dog near a cricket ground though.”
16th over: India 170-2 (Kohli 51, Pandya 15) As Wood comes back, Kohli takes a couple of twos and finally reaches fifty. He hasn’t actually been all that slow – 36 balls, with two fours and two sixes – but he has been the straight man in each of these double acts. Now it’s Hardik Pandya’s turn to outshine him, with a top-edged slash over Buttler’s head and a musclebound thwack past extra cover.
A good idea from Aditya Anchuri. “They should allow multiple players on a catch in the scorebook! c (Jordan, Roy) b Rashid. That was simply amazing.” I’d take the brackets off, too, and maybe throw in an ampersand, to show the teamwork.
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15th over: India 157-2 (Kohli 46, Pandya 7) Archer returns and Pandya upper-cuts him for a stylish four. I’m beginning to wonder if Kohli is paying tribute to Sunil Gavaskar’s infamous knock against England in the 1975 World Cup – 36 not out off 60 overs, possibly playing for a draw.
14th over: India 146-2 (Kohli 41, Pandya 1) Only four off the over and Rashid finishes with one for 31, which is heroic in the circumstances. Time, surely, for Kohli to get out of the back of his chauffeur-driven limo and grab the wheel.
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Wicket! Yadav c Roy b Rashid 32 (India 143-2)
It’s going to take something special to break this partnership, and here it is – a phenomenal bit of work from Chris Jordan, racing round the boundary, catching Yadav’s big hit one-handed, somehow staying inside the Toblerone, and slipping the ball to Jason Roy. Roy bursts out laughing, as well he may. Genius from Jordan.
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13th over: India 142-1 (Kohli 38, Yadav 32) Kohli’s not having that: he gives Stokes the charge and swings a six over midwicket. Yadav tries to retort with a reverse flap, but can’t get it past backward point. That’s another minor triumph for Stokes: an over that goes for only nine.
12th over: India 133-1 (Kohli 30, Yadav 31) The lull doesn’t last long as Kohli whips Jordan for four and Yadav, waiting for the slower balls, twice gets him past short fine leg. Rashid should have stopped the first one, but the second sailed over his head. When Jordan switches to a yorker, Yadav somehow squeezes it to third man for four more. Yadav has now overtaken Kohli after giving him a nine-over start. Kohli is somewhere between an anchor and a passenger. Amazing scenes.
11th over: India 114-1 (Kohli 25, Yadav 17) In the face of this onslaught, a dot ball is a maiden. And an over that goes for only four is a triumph, so well done Ben Stokes, containing the batsmen with his changes of pace. He has one for 17 from two overs.
“Given that the cricket is not going too well,” says Jonathan Gresty, “I’d just like to comment on the umpire today with seven As in his surname (far far more than I got in my O levels way back when). Not quite as many, however, as the 18th-century King Andriantsimitoviaminandriandrazaka of Madagascar – though, to be fair, his name being a combination of both first name and surname does confer a certain royal advantage. Back to the cricket... Yikes!”
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10th over: India 110-1 (Kohli 24, Yadav 14) Morgan brings back Rashid, and Yadav – the artist fondly known as SKY – hits one of his skyers, second ball, for six. And then he goes inside-out for six more, with just as much chutzpah and far more finesse. He’s been sitting watching a partnership of 94 off nine overs, and thinking “what we need here is a bit of acceleration”.
9th over: India 94-1 (Kohli 22, Yadav 0) Rohit had straight-driven Stokes for yet another six, his fifth, before flicking him for a one-bounce four. He was outscoring Kohli by almost three to one, and a hundred was there for the taking. But he’s gone, and the game needed that almost as badly as England did.
Wicket!! Rohit b Stokes 64 (India 94-1)
Played on! Stokes – who had just been Rohit for six, like everyone else – bowls a cutter and finds the breakthrough that England desperately needed.
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8th over: India 81-0 (Rohit 53, Kohli 20) It doesn’t much matter who’s bowling at the moment, but Morgan has to behave as if it does. He turns to Sam Curran, who draws a false stroke out of Rohit – a top edge that swirls up beyond the ring of lights. Jos Buttler could probably get there but Mark Wood calls for it and misses it. Oh dear – England may be collapsing in the field here. Rohit celebrates with a flick for six to reach 53 off 30 balls. Superb stuff.
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7th over: India 70-0 (Rohit 44, Kohli 18) On comes Chris Jordan, bearing allsorts. He nearly deceives Rohit with a slower ball, which produces a chip, short of Morgan at extra cover: in beach cricket, someone would be yelling “One hand, one bounce!”. Then Jordan nearly spears a yorker into the stumps, via Rohit’s attempt to smother it, but by the end of the over he too is watching a six sail into an empty stand. This is the Rohit we saw in the Test series: just imperious.
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6th over: India 60-0 (Rohit 35, Kohli 17) Wood continues, Rohit survives an LBW appeal (too high, going over the leg bail), and Kohli swivel-pulls for his first six of the evening. That brings up the fifty partnership off only 32 balls. Rohit sees that swivel and thinks he’ll have one too – another six, “all languid elegance” as Mike Atherton says. England’s high speed has turned into high scoring. Ten runs an over so far: India have won the PowerPlay, hands down.
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5th over: India 44-0 (Rohit 28, Kohli 10) Archer is back on already, with a change of ends. He does well to manage a dot ball, only to spoil it with a bouncer that goes trampolining over Buttler’s head for five wides. Kohli even gives him the charge, but can’t get his push through the covers. That was a better over than it looks on paper.
4th over: India 35-0 (Rohit 26, Kohli 8) Morgan takes Archer off and turns to his other quick, Mark Wood. And the Indians attack him too – Kohli cutting for a single, Rohit belting a straight drive that is uppish but not risky, and then another along the ground. Thirteen from the over, and Rohit has 26 off 15 balls. This is the sort of early onslaught that England have been spared, until now, because of India’s reluctance to drop KL Rahul.
3rd over: India 22-0 (Rohit 14, Kohli 7) Another LBW appeal from Rashid, this time against Rohit, and this time England review although it seems to be going down again. Yes, missing, and England lose their review – a poor decision from Morgan for once. (The Kohli one, by the way, was well judged, as there was an inside edge.) After a few singles, Rohit decides a big shot is called for and slog-sweeps the first six of the day. India cruising.
2nd over: India 13-0 (Rohit 7, Kohli 5) At the other end it’s Jofra Archer, who looks so comfortable when he plays under Morgan. And Kohli attacks him straight away, spotting the slower ball and launching into a lofted drive that was about six inches from extra cover’s right hand. Kohli adds a pull for a single. And then Rohit plays the shot of the day so far, threading a square drive through a needle in the covers. Advantage India!
1st over: India 3-0 (Rohit 2, Kohli 0) Rashid nearly defeats Rohit right away with the googly, but his uneasy prod lands safely away to the bowler’s right. And then he has an LBW appeal against Kohli, but it’s the slider, sliding down leg. Good start from England.
The players are out there and it’s going to be Adil Rashid to open the bowling again.
“What a finish this is,” says Guy Hornsby. “Perhaps it’s a measure of expectation we’ll expect to beat India at home that we’re unchanged. It shows just how things have progressed for this side. I’m still not 100% this is the XI for the World Cup, but imagine having Mo & Joe on the bench.” Good point. But if Mo found his mojo, and Joe was just Joe, you might not want them on the bench.
One more team for you: the composite XI. Always debatable, but here’s my stab at it. I’m sorry not to find room for Morgan’s captaincy, Kishan’s flair, Pant’s fireworks or Stokes’s general Stokesiness. The openers are English, the middle order entirely Indian. I’ve included two spinners, for balance, even though the seamers have taken 29 of the 41 wickets to fall to bowlers so far. On these strange surfaces – both sticky and bouncy – the slower ball has been more lethal than the slow bowler.
Composite XI 1 Roy, 2 Buttler (wkt), 3 Kohli (capt), 4 Yadav, 5 Iyer, 6 Pandya, 7 Sundar, 8 Archer, 9 Thakur, 10 Rashid, 11 Wood.
And another regular correspondent. “Excited to see Kohli opening for the Indian team again,” says Abhijato Sensarma. “He’s had his best success from that position in the IPL, but it’s usually been as an ‘anchor’ where he settles in before he gets going. But the new Indian team’s ethos seems to be ‘go big from the first ball’. I know he’s got the shots and you know he’s got the Powerplay overs – with no chase to anchor, I wonder how he’s going to extend his prolific run today (or not).” yes, it’ll be intriguing. It might be wise to see off Archer and try to go large at the other end, but Mark Wood has been thrifty as well as speedy – a captain’s dream. Can’t wait!
The first email is in and it’s from John Starbuck. “Good afternoon and Happy Equinox to everyone,” he says, with a spring in his step. “In addition, I’d like to wish fellow-Britons a Good Census tomorrow. An England win would also be nice.” Ah yes, the census. Will anyone be putting their religion down as cricket?
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India drop KL Rahul
Finally, after averaging 3.75 in the series, KL Rahul is dropped. Kohli spins it as a change in the balance of the side, with Natarajan coming in to make an extra seamer (so no Ishan Kishan, who may still be unfit). And Kohli says he will open himself. That should make the first half-hour even more entertaining.
India 1 Rohit, 2 Kohli (capt), 3 Yadav, 4 Pant (wkt), 5 Iyer, 6 Pandya, 7 Sundar, 8 Thakur, 9 Kumar, 10 Chahar, 11 Natarajan.
England unchanged
Still no Moeen! I hope Joe Root is commentating.
England 1 Roy, 2 Buttler (wkt), 3 Malan, 4 Bairstow, 5 Stokes, 6 Morgan (capt), 7 S Curran, 8 Archer, 9 Jordan, 10 Rashid, 11 Wood.
Toss: England win and bowl
Morgan is good at this.
Preamble: the little big one
Afternoon everyone and welcome to the biggest little fixture of England’s winter. It’s a mini-final in itself, the decider in a Twenty20 series that seemed beautifully balanced when it began and has now proved as much by standing at 2-2. It’s also the dress rehearsal for what may well be the T20 World Cup final in November – although the holders, West Indies, might have something to say about that, along with Australia, Pakistan and the sporting gods, who tend to scoff at long-range predictions.
India are the hosts, for the T20 World Cup as well as today’s game, and the favourites in most people’s opinion, though not Virat Kohli’s. England are the world’s top-ranked nation in T20 and, of course, the holders of the 50-over World Cup. England, helped by the toss, have twice gone ahead in this series; India have twice found an equaliser. Today’s pitch is the one on which India cantered to their first victory.
England have added an extra dimension to their game, going as hard with the ball in the first six overs as they do with the bat. India have the deeper squad, thanks to the millionaires’ bootcamp that is the IPL, and it was they who held their nerve in the one tight finish so far, although Jofra Archer was pretty cool too: after taking four wickets he sauntered out for his first T20 international innings, and made 18 not out off eight balls.
If Kohli is the biggest star in this firmament, his closest competitors are all on the other side – Archer and Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan, who has spent more time in the series holding conferences than holding a bat (26 balls faced, 32 runs made). Apart from Kohli, India’s brightest performers have been fringe players – Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav – who still sometimes find themselves left out to make room for their elders and lessers.
This has been the kind of series that neither team deserves to lose. But the one that does will be able to console itself with a thought that is familiar to anybody in the theatre: the worse the dress rehearsal, the better the show. The curtain goes up at 1.30pm GMT, and I’ll be back just after 1pm with the cast list.
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