IND vs ENG: 4th T20I – Blazing Surya, Sensational Shardul seal a thrilling victory
India have kept the five-match T20I series against England alive with a stunning win in the fourth game. They lost the toss again but this time managed to defend the total and level the series. Suryakumar Yadav was the star with the bat for the hosts scoring 57 while Pant and Iyer chipped in with crucial 30s to help India post 185 runs on the board. In response, England were in the chase for most parts of it but Indian bowlers did well to restrict them and win the game.
Here are the talking points of the game:
1. Surya hitting 1st ball for six and scoring 50
This is How you start Your International Debut Match#suryakumar
#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/FO9oB3QjDq— Kishan Shivrajkumar (@Kishans73645975) March 18, 2021
Suryakumar Yadav was back in the playing XI for this T20I and was promoted to bat at three. The man made it count first smacking his first ball in international cricket for a huge six off Jofra Archer. He continued batting in the same way scoring runs at will and ended up scoring 57 runs off 31 balls with six fours and three sixes.
2. Controversial third umpire calls
You can very well see this the ball touches the ground !!
This is so unfair ??!!@bhogleharsha @cricketaakash #suryakumar #NotOut pic.twitter.com/LXmxce0BkK— Atharva .S. Uttarkar (@imAtharvaUt) March 18, 2021
The third umpire was once again in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Firstly it was Surya’s dismissal as many thought the ball caught by Dawid Malan had touched the ground. But the fact that the soft signal was out and there wasn’t any conclusive evidence to overturn, the third umpire had to give it out. Moreover, Sundar’s dismissal in the death overs also hogged the limelight as Adil Rashid’s leg seemed to have touched the boundary. However, the third umpire once again went with the soft signal stating that there wasn’t enough evidence.
3. Hardik’s crucial spell
There were a lot of questions over Hardik Pandya’s bowling when he made the comeback. But he seems to have regained full fitness now and probably bowled the best spell of his career. He mixed his variations superbly conceding only 16 runs and picked up two wickets Roy and Curran.
4. Thakur’s good bowling in death overs
W, W, 1️⃣ ,4️⃣, 0️⃣, 2️⃣
What an over from Shardul Thakur ?#INDvsENG_2021 #INDvENG #Cricket pic.twitter.com/ZE2rvpOeTa
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) March 18, 2021
Shardul Thakur is fast emerging as the third pacer in T20Is for India. He has been bowling well in the death overs and did it again in this game. When England were clawing their way back into the game, he picked the wickets of Stokes and Morgan off consecutive deliveries in the 17th over to turn the game on its head. With 23 to defend in the last over, Thakur was under pressure at one stage, but he kept his cool and won the game for India ending with figures of 3/42 in four overs.
