Pretty much like last Sunday at Kolkata, things came down to the last ball this evening at Nagpur, as the Indian bowlers held their nerves to successfully defend a moderate total. Defending 145 on a pitch that wasn’t exactly too friendly for batting, the hosts got off to a superb start as the veteran Ashish Nehra dismissed openers Jason Roy and Sam Billings on successive deliveries.
England had the chase well under control after Ben Stokes’ onslaught caught India off guard. Needing a paltry 27 off 3 overs, Jasprit Bumrah stepped up to the task as his variations bamboozled the English batsmen. Bumrah, however, saved his best for the last, as he conceded just two runs off the final over when England needed eight.
Post India’s win, skipper Virat Kohli was ecstatic and lauded his side for showing tremendous character.
“It’s important to have belief,” said Kohli. “It was a case of us executing well initially. You don’t want to let momentum slip away in the middle overs, especially with the series on the line. But the way spinners bowled in the middle, and then the effort of Nehra and Bumrah with dew was outstanding. Nehra knew exactly what he wanted to do, Bumrah was asking me every ball what I thought he should do. I told him ‘just bowl what comes naturally to you.”
Kohli, however, wasn’t too complacent as he admitted the team needed to work out on a few aspects.
“I played for a bit on that wicket, shot-making was difficult. As soon as I got out, Rahul knew he had to play long. He has all the shots in the book. Good reflexes, hand-eye coordination. Looking forward to Bangalore. There are some things we need to tighten up,” said Kohli.
England skipper Eoin Morgan did admit that batting wasn’t too easy at Nagpur.
“We didn’t start the final over well, a decision didn’t go our way. The wicket was tough, but fair play, he produced a match-winning over. I thought we bowled really well to back up our previous performance with the ball, but with the last two games, we’ve been right on the money. In the chase, we never let it get too far away from us. Root, Stokes played outstandingly well. It’s unbelievably disappointing to lose, but we still have a chance to win the series in Bangalore.”