Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI; Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) and debutant Harshit Rana (3-33) claimed three wickets each as India beat England by 15 runs in the fourth T2OI at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on January 31. India thus took an unbeatable 3-1 lead and sealed the series with the last T2OI scheduled to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 2.
India came back after losing the third T20I in Rajkot. The hosts had started by winning the first two T20Is in Kolkata and Chennai.
Earlier, Hardik Pandya (53) and Shivam Dube (53) produced a counter-attacking partnership to rescue India from a precarious position and push them to a competitive 181/9 after Saqib Mahmood’s (3 for 35).
Phil Salt and Ben Duckett came out with an aggressive mindset, making full use of the Power-play. Facing Arshdeep Singh in the opening over, Salt drove the ball elegantly down the ground, picking up two boundaries to get England going. Arshdeep, who had pitched the ball up looking for swing, found no real movement, and Salt was quick to capitalise. With Ben Duckett also making a charge, England’s innings gathered pace rapidly. He got off the mark with a fortunate edge past the keeper before opening up with well-placed flicks and drives.
Arshdeep, who had been India’s go-to bowler in the early overs, struggled to contain the left-hander, conceding three consecutive boundaries in his second over. The ball was coming onto the bat nicely, in stark contrast to the first innings, where India had struggled against England’s high pace.
The introduction of spin, however, did little to slow down England at first. Varun Chakravarthy was brought on early to change the tempo, but Duckett swept and reverse-swept him for quick runs, as England raced to 53/0 in five overs. Axar Patel was next, but Duckett showed no signs of slowing down, unleashing back-to-back reverse sweeps, including a towering six, taking England to 62/0 at the end of the Power-play. Just when England seemed in complete control, India turned the tide. Ravi Bishnoi, brought on for the final over of the Power-play, provided the much-needed breakthrough, forcing Duckett into a miscued shot, which looped up to Suryakumar Yadav at mid-off. Duckett had blazed his way to 39 off just 19 balls with seven fours and a six, but his dismissal shifted the momentum back to India.
