The last half an hour of the third T20I at Bengaluru is more than enough to describe England’s entire tour of India. The visitors lost eight wickets for just 8 runs while chasing a cumbersome target of 203 and ended up making a complete mess of the run-chase.
On a typical Bengaluru wicket which was a paradise for batting, India got to a commanding 202-6 thanks to blistering half-centuries from Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. A 10-ball 27 from Yuvraj Singh was the icing on the cake for the hosts.
Bowling wise though, it was leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal who stole the show as he grabbed the third best figures in T20I cricket. Chahal decimated England with his leg-spin as he grabbed a well deserved six-wicket haul while strangling England’s run chase.
Post the series win, Yuvraj Singh admitted it was India’s bowling which won them the game and the series.
“Great bowling performance by the bowlers,” said Yuvraj. “Jassi brought us back in the last T20 as well, and Mishra set the tone for us today. Definitely because of the bowlers we won.”
Speaking about his own cameo, Yuvraj said:
“I thought I’ll take my time for one or two overs. You always have time in T20. Bangalore has always been a batting paradise. It was gripping a bit, bit of spin, but batting paradise. I think 200 is the par score because you’ve seen big chases here, big sixes.”
Amit Mishra, who himself was brilliant with the ball, was delighted after his own performance.
“I wanted to vary my pace and spin the ball. Managed to keep the pressure on. The way I worked with Chahal in the nets, we were discussing which areas to bowl, and how to keep the boundaries to a minimum. I knew that if we didn’t leak boundaries, we would put pressure on them, that’s why I tried all my variety.”