If any batsman in the modern-day cricket comes close to AB de Villiers with the bat, it is Jos Buttler. While the South African refined the innovation and aggression in batting which became the hallmark of the current generation, Buttler adapted all of them in his batting to be a modern-day limited-overs superstar. Both of them use their feet to great effect to score all around the ground, and there is no area which can be considered safe given the duo's spectacular array of shots. 

Despite the technical similarities between the men from two different parts of the planet, they have actually performed different roles for their team. While the South African batted 131 times at No.4 in the ODI cricket, most of Buttler’s innings have come at No.6. After England revolutionised their ODI batting, Buttler foumd himself being usedu as a floating finisher. However, when given a chance to bat at No. 4, the Somerset-born batsman averages an incredible 56.33 as compared to his average of 40.20 at No. 5, 37.56 at No.6, and 40.08 at No.7. The numbers make it evident that when Buttler bats at full throttle, he can make more contributions to the team without compromising anything and batting in at No. 6 reduces his impact in the game.

Joe Root gives England a much needed lift

Then, Kuldeep, to whom Root got out twice in three balls before this match, tried unleashing his googlies to Root. But the English Test skipper’s approach was more conventional by then - rotating the strike, dispatching the bad balls and trying hard not to make the same mistake of playing him with a straight bat. Moreover, he decided to wait for the balls before making any premeditated shots. His century today was not just a classic demonstration of how to bat your kryptonite out easily, but also a huge morale booster for the other batsmen going forward because it is a well set roadmap for the others to follow.

For all his struggle in the Test cricket, Moeen Ali was impressive in the recent limited-overs series against Australia, in which he picked up 13 wickets at an average of 20.38 and an economy rate of 5.93 across the six matches (five ODIs, one T20I). He is also one of the few players to have troubled Kohli and has taken his wicket five times across all formats (twice in Tests, twice in ODIs and once in T20Is). The manner in which Kohli plays England’s off-spinner was going to be an important factor in the series, but as it turned out, Kohli got out to two spinners in consecutive succession - to Adil Rashid in the first ODI in Trent Bridge and today to Ali. The English offie basically bowls flat and from a top angle, but when he drifted the ball a bit more, Kohli couldn’t pick it up as easily. As a result, he was beaten more than he would have liked and eventually lost his wicket to him.

Dhoni, who had made it a fashion of sitting deep in his crease and hitting bowlers for sixes with his supremely authentic bottom hand, took a lot of balls to get into the zone and then got out by playing a non-powerful stroke, which invariably ended up in Ben Stokes’ hands near the boundary ropes. Although KL Rahul managed to find his groove in the first T20I in Manchester, he has been way too inconsistent after that, much to the dismay of Team India. And therein lies India’s problem.