The 2018 tour of England was pegged as Virat Kohli’s sternest test as India captain, and on evidence of what has transpired in the first two matches of the tour, things are taking shape that way. India dominated the tour opener in Manchester, before England rectified the mistakes they’d committed in the first T20I, applied better and leveled the series in Cardiff. The two teams will compete in the decider on Sunday – the County Ground in Bristol will play host to what promises to be a cracking contest.
Looking ahead to the decider, history weighs in India’s favour. India have a 100% record in series deciders; they have prevailed in all five deciders of bilateral T20Is.
Further, while this coming match will be India’s first T20I at the venue, they have a clean sheet in ODIs; the Indian team has emerged victorious in each of the three ODIs they have played there previously.
England meanwhile, have finished on the wrong side of the result in both T20Is they’ve played in Bristol.
Further, England’s only defeat in a T20I series decider came in the three-match series against India in 2017.
England Learn Quickly and Apply
England were able to compete better in the 2nd T20I because:
- They selected better (fielded only one spinner in the eleven)
- Attacked India from the very beginning and broke the backbone of the batting very early
- Their batsmen, who appeared confused against the wiles of Kuldeep Yadav in the first T20, prepared better, and batted with a lot of clarity.
Lack of clarity saw England lose five wickets to Kuldeep Yadav at Old Trafford; the tentative approach by the batsmen resulted in the left-arm wrist spinner bowling 13 dot balls in his four over spell, eventually finishing with fantastic figures of 5 for 24.
In Cardiff, the English batsmen played Kuldeep smartly. They deliberately stayed back in the crease, played him late and rotated the strike well. The English batsmen changed strike on 13 occasions (10 singles and 3 leg byes) in Kuldeep’s four overs, thereby not giving the bowler an opportunity to work on a batsman continuously. And then, when the bowler erred on the fuller side – the lack of success and the resultant desperation perhaps forcing the change in length – the batsmen swung hard and deposited the ball into the stands on three occasions.
Tips for India
For India to win this match and clinch the series, they need to believe in themselves and go about things they would normally do. A major portion of the blame for India’s defeat in Cardiff must fall on the shoulders of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Both batsmen were guilty of creating strokes when the need of the hour was to ride out the initial testing spell by the England quicks.
Rohit and Rahul are more the ‘surgeon’ kind of batsmen who rely on ‘finesse’, rather than ‘freaks’ or ‘marauders’; they can score runs with precision and elegance, without having to take too many risks and without having to look ugly. Just like Rahul has done so often in the last few months – most recently at Old Trafford, or like Rohit did when he scored 97 against Ireland not too long ago.
It is likely that India will field the same eleven that took the field in the previous two matches. While that line-up appears limited on bowling resources and gives captain Kohli very few bowling alternatives, the bowlers are very much capable and can do the job on most days. It is for the batsmen to apply better, ride out tough periods and back themselves to score enough runs to win the match.
By learning and applying better, England have thrown the challenge back at the Indian team. This is classic cat and mouse games. Will the Indian team be able to draw up new strategies and outsmart the hosts?
The decider begins at 6:30 pm IST and the captains will toss for the choice of innings at 6 pm IST. You can follow live updates from the match at our live blog here.
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