4th T20I: India Beat England By 8 Runs To Level The Series 2-2

Suryakumar Yadav smashed 57 and India's bowlers stifled England's batters in a tense finale to claim an eight-run victory in the fourth Twenty20 international Thursday that leveled the five-match series at 2-2.

India 185/8 in 20 overs (S Yadav 57, S Iyer 37, J Archer 4/33) beat England 177/8 in 20 overs (B Stokes 46, J Roy 40, S Thakur 3/42, H Pandya 2/16, R Chahar 2/35)

India vs England 4th T20I Match Report 

Eoin Morgan won the toss and India started strongly with Rohit Sharma hitting a six off the first ball of the innings. However, the host team lost openers K.L. Rahul and Rohit, without the two making much of an impression. The opening pair put on 21 before Rohit Sharma was caught and bowled off a slower ball. 

Suryakumar Yadav, who got off the mark in international cricket with a six over fine leg, hit three sixes and smashed six fours. He followed his Mumbai Indians teammate Ishan Kishan to score a half-century on debut. Kishan achieved the feat in the second T20 International on March 14.

Skipper Virat Kohli, batting at No. 4 and a slot below Yadav, could make just one but Rishabh Pant chipped in with 30 off 23 balls.

What A Match. What A Win#INDvsENG #indiancricketteam #teamindia #shardulthakur #hardikpandya #jofraarcher pic.twitter.com/XYvdquFBWd

— CRICKETNMORE (@cricketnmore) March 18, 2021

 

Shreyas Iyer, however, provided the late fillip to take India to a fighting total. Among England bowlers, Jofra Archer was the most successful, picking four for 33 while Mark Wood was again economical going for just 25 in his four overs and picking one wicket.

England, who were set a target of 186 lost the third match's hero Jos Buttler early but kept themselves in the chase through Jason Roy (40 off 27 balls), Jonny Bairstow (25 off 19) and Ben Stokes (46 off 23), and looked well set to chase the target and at 140/4 in 16 overs needed 46 off 24 deliveries, a very achievable equation.

However, two wickets off two balls by Shardul Thakur (3/42) in his third over pegged England back. Thakur's change in pace surprised both Stokes and Eoin Morgan (4) as they fell in successive deliveries caught in the deep.

Jofra Archer led a final run blitz and England needed 23 from the final over. Archer gave India a scare by hitting a six and a four, then there were two wides and Archer's bat broke going for a big hit as the visitors fell short. 

Shardul Thakur claimed three wickets while Hardik Pandya and Rahul Chahar took two each as India kept England to 177-8 in their chase of 186 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The win brought the five-match series level at 2-2, keeping it alive.