Men in Blue kick off England tour with T20 series win; Rohit’s century topping on the cake
Rohit Sharma's elegant unbeaten century made it a walk in the park for India as they cruised to a seven-wicket victory against England to clinch the three-match T20 International series 2-1 here on Sunday.
The Indian vice-captain made a target of 199 look ridiculously easy on a small Bristol ground after the visiting bowlers did a commendable job at the back end to restrict the hosts to a sub-par score.
Captain Virat Kohli (43 off 29 balls) played his part with his authoritative strokeplay while Hardik Pandya, who shone with the ball earlier with a four-wicket haul, also made a significant contribution with the bat. Pandya hit 33 not out off just 14 balls as India reached to 201 for 3 in 18.4 overs.
India thus clinched their sixth consecutive T20I series win, which is part of an unbeaten run stretching back to September 2017.
The series win also set the right tone for the gruelling challenges ahead with the three-match ODI series, up next, starting from July 12.
Rohit stroked his way to 100 not out, his third T20I hundred, with the help of 11 fours and five sixes, adding 89 runs for the third wicket with Kohli, who got his first score of note on the tour of UK.
Virat's 43 came from 29 balls and had two fours and two sixes.
Chasing a decent target of 199 on a small ground, India made a bright start with 21 runs on board after the second over but opener Shikhar Dhawan (5) got out immediately as Jake Ball made a fine diving catch at short fine leg.
lokesh Rahul (19 off 10 balls) fell to a spectacular catch by Chris Jordan who made a huge ground from long-on and then flung himself full length to pluck the ball out of nowhere. Despite that, India were on course with 70 on board for 2 wickets at the end of powerplay.
Ben Stokes was introduced in the seventh over and he made an immediate impact by conceding just two runs from that over. But Rohit was not the one to remain quiet as he collected a few more fours to reach his fifty off 28 balls in the ninth over while also taking Indian score to 100 for 2 at halfway mark.
Rohit then launched on Plunkett with a six and a four in the 11th over and captain Virat Kohli, who came on the crease at the fall of Rahul, joined the party with a six in the next over to place India well on course of the target.
The Indian captain began to gain in confidence as he hit another six off Plunkett before he fell victim of Jordan in the 15th over, caught and bowled by the bowler in a soft dismissal.
Hardik Pandya, who came in for Kohli, immediately found the boundaries and India needed just 29 from the last three overs to win the match. India took 20 runs in the 18th over with Pandya hitting two fours and a six. Then he hit the winning runs, a six off Jordan to clinch the series.
Earlier, opening batsman Jason Roy rained sixes in his blistering innings of 67 off just 31 balls but India made a superb fightback on the back of Hardik Pandya's four-wicket haul to restrict England to 198 for nine.
Sent into bat, Roy and his opening partner Jos Buttler (34 runs of 21 balls) shared 94 runs from 7.5 overs to make a flying start in their innings as the duo dealt in fours and sixes initially. England would have posted a much bigger total but for the comeback by the Indian bowlers led by Hardik who took 4/38.
During the England innings, Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni also became the first wicket keeper to complete 50 catches in T20Is by taking five catches.
We showed character: Kohli
Indian captain Virat Kohli on Sunday praised his team-mates for showing character in tight situations in the seven-wicket win in the third and final T20 International to clinch the series 2-1 here.
Kohli lauded the effort of his bowlers to come back at the back end and restrict England to a sub-par score while praising Hardik Pandya and centurion Rohit Sharma for their efforts with the bat.
"The comeback from the bowlers was outstanding. At one stage we thought they'd end up getting 225-230. But the character they showed, that's something we're very proud of. Just hit our areas better I guess," Kohli said at the post match presentation ceremony.
"We have the qualities to bowl wicket-taking deliveries as well. 25-30 runs in this format can be massive," he added.
Talking about the run chase, Kohli said, "(Hardik) Pandya is a really good all-round cricketer. He's confident with his skills with bat and ball. The way he came back after his first over is what you want to see as a captain. It was difficult for the bowlers.
"We enjoyed ourselves as batsmen. I don't like to look at hindsight and say we could have added another bowler. Guys came up with the good. We're gonna continue and try different things. You saw the kind of energy and attitude we had on the field. It's a great way to start the tour."
Man of the match and series, Rohit Sharma said he assessed the conditions first before going for the big strokes.
"That's the style of my play. Assessing conditions was important at the start of the innings. Once we see off the new ball, we always knew wicket was a good one with short boundaries. Held my shape well. I like to be calm, not to panic too much," he said.
"I know once you're there, you can make it up later. Always important to try and assess the bowlers as well. With four fielders inside, there's always that option to take chances," said Rohit who hit 100 not out off 56 balls.
About Pandya, he said, "Pandya has done that for few years now. More often than not he will play such innings in the back end. The way he bowled gave him confidence. He's a fearless individual.”