Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons the upcoming T20 WC in India will be won by the team which wins the toss after yet another match ended with the chasing side coming out on top in Ahmedabad.
Michael Vaughan on T20 WC
“So it looks like the T20 World Cup in India could be won by the best Tosser,” Vaughan joked in a tweet.
So it looks like the T20 World Cup in India could be won by the best Tosser !!!! #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 16, 2021
In the third T20I on Tuesday, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow guided England to an eight-wicket victory. Buttler and Bairstow remained unbeaten on 83 and 40 respectively.
Earlier, Kohli’s unbeaten knock of 77 runs off just 46 balls had helped India post 156/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Down and out going into the last five overs of the innings, Kohli led from the front in all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s company as the duo added 69 runs from 30 balls to take the hosts’ total past the 150-run mark.
Hardik had joined Kohli with the score on 86/5 in 14.3 overs and what followed was nothing short of a master-class on power-hitting. Interestingly, it was Hardik who played second-fiddle in their 70-run partnership off just 33 balls as Kohli went on a hitting spree. This was India’s highest sixth-wicket partnership in T20Is.
Mark Wood rattled the Indian batters as he dismissed the top-order in no time and the hosts were left reeling inside the first six overs.
With the win in the third T20I, England gained a 2-1 lead in the series. Both teams will now meet in the fourth T20I on Thursday.
India captain Virat Kohli however, refused to blame the toss for the defeat and instead pointed out how his team lacked intensity in the match.
“If you lose the toss, embrace what’s been asked of you as a team. The England bowlers were absolutely brilliant with the new ball. In the first six overs, they hardly gave us anything and made our lives very difficult.
“We tried to come back as well as we could but I don’t think our body language in the second half was acceptable in the field. Defending 160, you need intensity and energy and that was lacking tonight,” Kohli said after the match.
Ahmedabad hosts all five matches with the fourth Twenty20 International scheduled on Thursday. The last three matches are being played behind closed doors following a rise in COVID-19 cases in the state of Gujarat.
