New Delhi: India’s failure to wipe out England’s tail cost them the third T20I, skipper Suryakumar Yadav said while analysing his team’s 26-run defeat to England in Rajkot.
India had reduced England to 127/8 in 16 overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl but loosened the grip as England went on to post 171/9. The hosts then stumbled to 145/9 in their chase as England kept alive the five match series 1-2.
Yadav, who made 14 runs off seven balls, said Adil Rashid’s guile stopped them from scoring freely, ultimately derailing their run chase.
“I felt there would be a little dew later in the day. I feel we had the game in our hands when Hardik and Axar were batting. Credit goes to Adil Rashid, he bowled really well. That’s why he is a world-class bowler. He didn’t allow us to rotate the strike,” Yadav said at the post-match presentation.
“I feel you always learn something from a T20 game. I felt when we were bowling around 127/8 to 170, I think that was too much at the end. We’ve got to learn from the batting point of view. Got to go back to the drawing board and learn from our mistakes.”
‘Adil most important player’
England got off to a bright start with Ben Duckett and skipper Jos Buttler putting together a 76-run stand. But they slipped to 127/8 from 83/2 before Rashid and Mark Wood’s late efforts pulled them up to 171/9.
“The guys bowled really well, it was nice to show off their skills. Not about how fast they can bowl, but how well they can adapt to the wicket,” Buttler said.
“(Adil Rashid) He’s the most important player in our team, we are fortunate to have Rashid in the team. He has all variations. Jofra is consistent, he won’t go for sixes often, but he will come back for sure if he does.”
Buttler said they need to prevent the habit of loosing wickets in clusters as it is not reasonable to expect tail-enders to contribute everytime.
“I think the wicket looked different, Duckett played well. We lost wickets in clumps, we were disappointed. It was crucial to pick up wickets in the powerplay,” the right-hand batter said.
“I loved the way we kept pushing and kept taking the game on. Credit to Rashid and Wood, they had a crucial partnership in the end. That was the difference in the end.”
India went down to England by 26 runs in the third T20I in Rajkot as the five match series stood at 2-1 in favour of the home team Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
