The Indian cricket team’s emphatic eight-run victory over England in the fourth T20I on Thursday saw the hosts set up a mouth-watering finale for the five-match series at the Motera Stadium on Saturday.
Riding on Suryakumar Yadav’s gritty knock of 57 off 31 balls, which ended due to a soft-signal dismissal, and Shreyas Iyer’s quickfire 37 off 18 balls, India posted a competitive score of 185. In reply, England lost wickets at regular intervals as Shardul Thakur’s 3/42 and support from Hardik Pandya (2/16), Rahul Chahar (2/35) helped the hosts restrict the Three Lions to 177/8 as the Men in Blue levelled the five-match series 2-2.
India’s total (185/8) in the fourth T20I is now their fourth-highest score against England in T20 internationals.
| Highest scores for IND vs ENG | |||
| Score | Innings | Ground | Date |
| 218/4 | 1 | Durban | 19-Sep-07 |
| 202/6 | 1 | Bengaluru | 01-Feb-17 |
| 201/3 | 2 | Bristol | 08-Jul-18 |
| 185/8 | 1 | Ahmedabad | 18-Mar-21 |
| 177/8 | 1 | Mumbai | 22-Dec-12 |
Suryakumar Yadav, who came into bat at number three ahead of captain Virat Kohli, started his innings with a six and went on to register his maiden international half-century in just his second game. His knock is the fifth-highest score by an Indian number three batsman against England, and he also is the second Indian number three to score a fifty this series, after skipper Virat Kohli.
| Highest SR for a #3 batsman vs ENG (50 or more runs) | ||||
| Player | Runs | Strike Rate | Ground | Start Date |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 69* | 246.42 | Chattogram | 29-Mar-14 |
| BB McCullum (NZ) | 74 | 194.73 | Hamilton | 12-Feb-13 |
| Mohammad Hafeez (PAK) | 69 | 191.66 | Manchester | 30-Aug-20 |
| KL Rahul (INDIA) | 101* | 187.03 | Manchester | 03-Jul-18 |
| SA Yadav (INDIA) | 57 | 183.87 | Ahmedabad | 18-Mar-21 |
Suryakumar was well supported by his Mumbai teammate Shreyas Iyer, who played a swashbuckling knock of 18-ball 37 at an impressive strike rate of 205.55, the second-best strike rate by a number six batsman against England (min. 30 runs).
| Highest SR for a #6 batsman vs ENG at home (min 30 runs) | ||||
| Player | Runs | Strike Rate | Ground | Start Date |
| DJG Sammy (WI) | 30* | 333.33 | Bridgetown | 11-Mar-14 |
| SS Iyer (INDIA) | 37 | 205.55 | Ahmedabad | 18-Mar-21 |
| CD McMillan (NZ) | 57 | 183.87 | Durban | 18-Sep-07 |
| NLTC Perera (SL) | 57 | 183.87 | Colombo (RPS) | 27-Oct-18 |
| DJ Mitchell (NZ) | 30* | 176.47 | Christchurch | 01-Nov-19 |
England’s batting may not have been up to the mark, but their bowlers - especially Jofra Archer - put on a decent performance with the ball. Except for Chris Jordan, five English bowlers took at least one wicket in the fourth T20I, which the visitors have managed for the fifth time against India in the shortest format of the game.
| Instances with 5 ENG bowlers taking at least 1 wicket vs IND in T20Is | |||||
| Venue | Inns with 1+ wicket | Strike Rate | Average | Economy | Start Date |
| Ahmedabad | 5 | 8 | 17.37 | 8.68 | 18-Mar-21 |
| Ahmedabad | 5 | 7 | 15.57 | 6.05 | 12-Mar-21 |
| Kanpur | 5 | 6 | 24.00 | 7.20 | 26-Jan-17 |
| Mumbai | 5 | 7 | 24.42 | 8.55 | 22-Dec-12 |
| Manchester | 5 | 9 | 13.77 | 7.44 | 31-Aug-11 |
Archer, who was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 33 runs, took three scalps in the death overs and registered the third-best bowling figures by a visiting bowler against India in T20Is.
| Best bowling figures by a visiting bowler vs IND | ||||||
| Player | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Ground | Start Date |
| MJ Santner (NZ) | 4 | 11 | 4 | 2.75 | Nagpur | 15-Mar-16 |
| JP Behrendorff (AUS) | 4 | 21 | 4 | 5.25 | Guwahati | 10-Oct-17 |
| JC Archer (ENG) | 4 | 33 | 4 | 8.25 | Ahmedabad | 18-Mar-21 |
| TA Boult (NZ) | 4 | 34 | 4 | 8.50 | Rajkot | 04-Nov-17 |
| Umar Gul (PAK) | 4 | 37 | 4 | 9.25 | Ahmedabad | 28-Dec-12 |
On the flip side, Adil Rashid had a night to forget. The spinner leaked 39 runs, the second-most by an English bowler in the five-match series and the fifth-most by an England spinner away from home.
| Most runs conceded by an ENG spinner away from home in T20Is | ||||||
| Player | Overs | Runs conceded | Economy | Opposition | Ground | Start Date |
| DR Briggs | 4 | 53 | 13.25 | Australia | Hobart | 29-Jan-14 |
| MW Parkinson | 4 | 47 | 11.75 | New Zealand | Napier | 08-Nov-19 |
| AU Rashid | 4 | 42 | 10.50 | South Africa | Centurion | 16-Feb-20 |
| MS Panesar | 4 | 40 | 10.00 | Australia | Sydney | 09-Jan-07 |
| GP Swann | 4 | 40 | 10.00 | Australia | Adelaide | 12-Jan-11 |
| AU Rashid | 4 | 40 | 10.00 | New Zealand | Wellington | 03-Nov-19 |
| AU Rashid | 4 | 39 | 9.75 | India | Ahmedabad | 18-Mar-21 |
Virat Kohli-led India and Eoin Morgan’s England will now fight for bragging rights in the fifth and final T20I on Saturday, March 20.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Jewel Samad
