England vs India, 3rd T20I, Top Performances: Dawid Malan’s 77, Suryakumar Yadav’s 117 and Reece Topley’s 3-22 are top performances. England beat India by 17 runs in 3rd T20I. India take series 2-1.
Brief Scores: England 215-7 (Malan 77, Livingstone 42*, Bishnoi 30/2) beat India 198-9 (Yadav 117, Topley 22/3, Jordan 37/2) by 17 runs
Player of the Match: Reece Topley (3/22)
Player of the Series: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4 wickets in 2 matches at an ER of 4.16)
India and England were at odds with each other in the third match of the T20I series at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Sunday. India had already taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 over the hosts by beating them in the first two T20I matches of the series. So, England were likely to try to give their best performance to avoid whitewashing at home.
England won the toss and decided to bat first. India made four changes by including Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik and Shreyas Iyer in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya in this dead rubber.
England won 3rd T20I, Suryakumar Yadav’s stupendous ton goes in vain
Jason Roy and Jos Buttler opened the innings for the hosts in front of India pacers – Avesh Khan and Umran Malik. Buttler gathered 17 runs in the second over of the game by smashing two glorious fours and one towering six and made sure England were off to a flyer. After the wicket of Buttler, Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone played fabulous knocks to help their side cross the 200-run mark. England amassed a staggering 215 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs.
India lost three key wickets quickly while chasing the huge target of 216 runs, however, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer added a 119-run partnership for the fourth wicket and kept their side in the hunt. Although Yadav smashed a colossal century, India remained short of the target by a margin of 17 runs.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the third T20I between England and India.
Dawid Malan ripped India’s bowling attack to shreds to score a fiery 77
After the wicket of Buttler, one down batter Dawid Malan took some deliveries before playing his attacking shots. He struck his first boundary off Harshal Patel. On the next ball, Malan got a reprieve as Harshal dropped the England batter in his followthrough.
Malan made the most of this opportunity and started striking boundaries every over. England continued to lose wickets at the other end but Malan continue to bat freely. In the eleventh over of the innings, Malan showed his true prowess by smashing a four and a huge six to garner 13 runs from the over bowled by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
The 34-year-old batter followed it with an elegant four and gigantic six off pacer Umran Malik. In the same over, Malan brought up his 12th fifty in the format off just 30 deliveries. After completing his fifty, he struck one six each off Avesh Khan and Jadeja to get runs quickly. The left-hand batter added 84 runs with Liam Livingstone for the fourth wicket. However, a brave googly by leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi undid Malan the latter tried a slog-sweep and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant grabbed the catch easily. Malan made 77 runs off just 39 deliveries with the help of six fours and five monumental sixes.
Read More: Eng vs Ind, 2nd T20I, Top Performances: Jadeja’s 46, Bhuvi’s 3-15 power India to 2-0 series win
Suryakumar Yadav notched up his first T20I century for India
Suryakumar Yadav is considered as an X-factor because of his sensational batting form in T20 cricket. He proved his mettle again by smashing a terrific century off just 48 deliveries. This is his first century for India in any format. He became only the fifth India player to strike a century in T20 internationals.
When Suryakumar Yadav came in to bat, India were struggling at 13-2, after losing huge wickets of Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli. Also, India lost their captain Rohit in the fifth over to find themselves struggling at 31-3. Yadav took some time before putting his foot on the accelerator by hammering one four and one towering six off pacer David Willey. The 31-year-old batter followed it with three elegant boundaries in an over bowled by spinner Livingstone. He brought up his fifty off just 32 balls in the twelfth over.
In the next over, Yadav brought up the 100 for his side by smoking a monumental six off spinner Livingstone and slammed two more mammoth sixes in the same over. The right-hand batter collected a staggering 21 runs from that over. The Mumbai-born batter continued to pummel boundaries against every England bowler. He clobbered two fours and one six off pacer Chris Jordan to garner 18 runs in the over and helped India to the 150-run mark in the 15th over.
Suryakumar added 119 runs with Shreyas Iyer for the fourth wicket. After the wicket of Iyer, Yadav continued to play attacking shots. He smashed two fours in an over of Willey and brought up his first century off just 48 deliveries.
India lost two more wickets in the end as Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja went to the pavilion early. Still, Yadav kept India in the game by smashing a flurry of boundaries. He smashed two fours and one six against spinner Moeen Ali but got out on the penultimate ball of the 19th over. Yadav made 117 runs off just 55 deliveries, which is the second-highest score by an Indian player in T20I cricket after Rohit Sharma’s 118 against Sri Lanka at Indore. However, the stupendous knock of Yadav went in vain and India remained short of the target posted by the hosts.
Read More: Eng vs Ind, Edgbaston Test 2022: Vihari, Iyer disappoint; Shardul, Jadeja found wanting with ball
Reece Topley bagged three wickets to halt India’s juggernaut
Left-arm medium pacer Reece Topley made his mark on the first ball of his spell by dismissing dangerous Rishabh Pant. The batter was caught behind by wicketkeeper Buttler on a personal score of just one. Topley used his slower ball skills well to put India batters in trouble. He bowled a slower short ball to Rohit Sharma which Sharma couldn’t handle well while playing the pull shot and gave a straight catch to Philip Salt at mid-wicket.
This wicket left India in a dangerous position of 31-3. Topley again returned in the 16th over to bowl to the well-settled pair of Yadav and Iyer. Topley dismissed Iyer on the first ball of the over to break the century partnership at a crucial point. He bowled another slower delivery which was slightly short of a length and cramped Iyer for room, and the batter ended up giving a catch to keeper Buttler. Iyer made 28 runs off 23 deliveries. Topley recorded figures of 22/3 by using slower balls efficiently against opponent batters.
Special mention for Liam Livingstone
Liam Livingstone played many explosive knocks for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the recent edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). However, his bat didn’t talk much in the first two matches of this series. Livingstone didn’t take much time to show his brutal striking powers to spectators. He came down on the ground when England were 84-3 and Malan was striking boundaries at will.
Livingstone waited till the fourteenth over and launched a huge six over cow corner on the last ball of the over. In the death overs, Livingstone pounced on Harshal Patel, who is known for his economical bowling for India, to clobber two back-to-back sixes. England lost the wickets of Malan, Moeen Ali and Harry Brook in succession, but Livingstone continued to strike boundaries. His unbeaten knock of 42 runs off 29 deliveries helped England cross the 200-run mark. Livingstone’s whirlwind knock was studded with four colossal sixes.
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