IND vs ENG: 5th T20I – Talking points from India’s sizzling series victory

India, on Saturday, beat England by 36 runs in the fifth and final T20I to clinch the series 3-2. The hosts scored 224 for 2, their highest-ever T20I total against England after Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited them to bat first. Virat Kohli top-scored for India, scoring an unbeaten 80 while Rohit Sharma scored 64. In reply, England finished their innings on 188 for 8 with Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler scoring impressive fifties.

Here are the talking points from the game:

Rohit Sharma – Virat Kohli partnership:

After trying out three different opening pairs and failing to get good starts from them in the previous four games of the series, India opened with their captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma in the series-decider. And the move paid off. Rohit and Kohli gave India a quick and solid start to lay the foundation for the big total. The duo added 94 runs off just 54 runs for the first wicket. Both the batsmen scored fifties.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s match-turning over:

Despite posting the big total, India were under pressure as Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler were firing on all cylinders. They were playing the big shots at will to keep England in the hunt before the game turned on its head when Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the 13th over. England were comfortably placed at 127 for 1 after 12 overs when Kohli reintroduced Bhuvneshwar in the attack and the latter totally justified the faith shown in him. He gave away just three runs in his first four balls to build the pressure and the ploy worked. Jos Buttler buckled under pressure while trying to go for a big shot.

Shardul Thakur’s twin-wicket over:

☝️ Jonny Bairstow
☝️ Dawid Malan

Two wickets in one over for Shardul Thakur! #INDvENG | https://t.co/7vTTjtwucR pic.twitter.com/dQvZs8P4uZ

— ICC (@ICC) March 20, 2021

If Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 13th over turned the game on its head then it was the 15th over bowled by Shardul Thakur that put India well on top. Thakur dismissed Jonny Bairstow and well-set Dawid Malan in that over while conceding just 6 runs to put India in the driver’s seat.

Dawid Malan fifty:

The world number one T20I batsman finally showed his ability with the bat on Saturday. After failing to live up to the expectations in the first four games, Malan scored an impressive fifty in the fifth one although he could not guide his team to a series-clinching win. The southpaw reached his fifty off 33 balls and eventually scored 68 off 46 balls.