After the Indian cricket team thrashed England 3-1 in the recently concluded Test series, the two teams are now gearing up for a five-match T20I series starting from March 12.
India and England have played each other 14 times in the shortest format of the game, with both teams winning seven matches each.
Ahead of the opening T20I to be played at the newly named Narendra Modi Stadium, here we look at three memorable T20I encounters between these two cricketing giants:
2007 - Durban, World Twenty20
Result: India won by 18 runs
In the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007, India locked horns with England for the first time in the shortest format on September 19, 2007, at Kingsmead in Durban. MS Dhoni-led Team India were in a must-win situation in their second match of the Super 6 round against England.
After opting to bat first, India openers Gautam Gambhir (58) and Virender Sehwag (68) stitched a quickfire 136-run stand before they lost three wickets in three overs. This is when Yuvraj Singh joined skipper Dhoni in the middle in the 17th over. After a heated exchange with England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in the 18th over, Yuvraj clobbered six sixes off a young Stuart Broad’s 19th over to slam a 12-ball fifty - the fastest T20 fifty - a world record that still remains intact. India posted 218/4 in their quota of 20 overs.
In reply, England lost wickets at regular intervals as they suffered an 18-run defeat. For India, left arm-pacer Irfan Pathan was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball as he claimed three crucial wickets for 37 runs in his four overs. Yuvraj was adjudged the match of the match for his incredible fifty.
2014 - Birmingham, Only T20I
Result: England won by 3 runs
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, England rode on stand-in captain Eoin Morgan’s 31-ball 71 and Alex Hales’ 40 runs to post a decent total of 180/7 at Edgbaston in Birmingham on September 7, 2014. The visitors conceded 81 runs in the last five overs. India right-arm fast bowler Mohammed Shami was the standout bowler for the visitors as he scalped three wickets for 38 runs in his four overs.
Chasing a target of 181, Shikhar Dhawan (33) and Virat Kohli forged a 79-run partnership for the second wicket to keep Team India in the hunt. An out-of-form Kohli finally scored his only fifty of the tour (66).
Meanwhile, India required 17 runs off the last over bowled by Chris Woakes with captain MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu at the crease. Dhoni smashed a six in the first ball of the over and added another two runs in the next ball but later refused a single in the third ball.
With 9 runs needed off 3 balls, Dhoni managed to hit a boundary to keep India’s hopes alive. The next delivery was edged to deep square leg but the then India captain again refused a single backing himself to finish off the game. However, Dhoni could only manage a single as the visitors lost the game by three runs.
2017 - Nagpur, 2nd T20I
Result: India won by 5 runs
After losing the first T20I of the three-match series, India came to Nagpur where they needed to win to keep the series alive.
Put into bat, the hosts lost their captain Virat Kohli (21) in the fifth over of the match. KL Rahul smashed 71 runs off just 47 balls and Manish Pandey’s cameo of 30 runs on a slow pitch helped India post a respectable total of 144/8 in their 20 overs.
For England, pacer Chris Jordan was the wrecker-in-chief as he took three wickets for just 22 runs.
Chasing a tricky total of 145, England openers Jason Roy (10) and Sam Billings (12) were dismissed cheaply by India pacer Ashish Nehra.
Joe Root and Ben Stokes scored 38 each to put the visitors in a commanding position. England needed just 8 runs in the last over to win the match.
Kohli gave the last over to India’s death overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah to defend the 8 runs. As it turned out, Bumrah removed Root and Jos Buttler (15) to help India register a memorable 5-run victory and take the series to a decider. Eventually, Team India won the series 2-1.
Feature image courtesy: ALEXANDER JOE / AFP
