Suryakumar’s special knock goes in vain

NOTTINGHAM: Suryakumar Yadav gave a 360-degree masterclass en route to a special hundred, but England pulled off a consolatory 17-run win over India in the third T20 International here on Sunday.

Dawid Malan made a sublime 77 off 39 balls (6 fours, 5 sixes) as England put India’s second-string attack to sword to finish with a mammoth 215 for seven. Suryakumar (117 off 55 balls, 14 fours, 6 sixes) kept India in the hunt with his classy effort but lacked support from other batters while chasing the huge target. India’s innings ended at 198 for nine in 20 overs.

India sealed the three-match series 2-1, having won in Southampton and Birmingham. India was on the backfoot at the start of the run chase, struggling to 31 for three in five overs.

Openers Rohit Sharma (11) and Rishabh Pant (1) perished cheaply and it was another failure for Virat Kohli (11), who was caught at cover while trying to manufacture a third consecutive hit after collecting a four and a straight six off David Willey.

Suryakumar brought India back into the game with a 119-run stand with Shreyas Iyer (28 off 23) who was a spectator to his partner’s brilliance for the major part of the partnership. As he often does, Suryakumar toyed with the opposition bowlers and picked his shots all around the ground.

The highlights of his glorious innings was the two lofted square drives off pacers Richard Gleeson and Chris Jordan that went all the way for six. He became the fifth Indian man to score a hundred in T20 Internationals by opening the face of the bat and guiding a low full toss off Willey between backward point and short third man.

His innings comprised 14 fours and half-a-dozen sixes. Suryakumar single-handedly brought the equation down to gettable 66 off 30 balls before running out of partners at the other end.

Earlier, skipper Jos Buttler (18 off 9 balls) and Jason Roy (27 off 26) helped England reach 52 for 1 in six overs. Malan and Liam Livingstone (42 not out off 29 balls, 4 sixes) then shared an entertaining 84-run partnership to set the platform for a big total.

Having already sealed the series, India rested its frontline bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal, besides star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The Indian next gen were taken to the cleaners by a power-packed England batting line-up which had disappointed in the first two games. Ravi Bishnoi’s effort of two for 30 in four overs was the only silver lining in an otherwise ordinary bowling performance.

Buttler punished the inexperienced Umran Malik during his brief stay, collecting two fours and a six off the Indian’s opening over that yielded 17 runs. Avesh Khan foxed Buttler with a slower ball that he played on to the stumps.

After Roy was caught behind off Malik, Malan changed gears and played proper cricketing shots that he is known for.

BRIEF SCORES: England 215/7 in 20 overs (D Malan 77, L Livingstone 42*) bt India 198/9 in 20 overs (Suryakumar 117, R Topley 3/22)