Super Sixes SRL | India vs England Evaluation Chart - Chahal, Rohit ravage England as India run riot
India thrash England in SRL
|A fine spell of bowling from Yuzvendra Chahal, who claimed a three-wicket haul, and imperious batting from Rohit Sharma, who scored an unbeaten 64, helped team India thrash England by nine wickets. The Men in Blue, with the win, snapped their losing streak, after losing their last two encounters.
Match Review
After being inserted into bat by Virat Kohli & Co, England found the perfect response from the bat of Jason Roy, who struck two fours off the first three balls of the innings to send a message to the Indian bowlers. However, things soon turned ugly for the Three Lions, who lost Buttler and Bairstow in the span of four balls, after which the Indians took control, despite some exquisite hitting from Joe Root. England then fell prey to the leg-spin of Chahal, who ravaged them with figures of 3/16 in the middle overs, but a fine cameo from Chris Jordan towards the end propelled the Morgan-led side to a somewhat below-par total of 141.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have made it a habit to make a mockery out of small targets and today was no different. The explosive pairing put on a gargantuan 86-run stand for the first wicket, killing off England’s hopes within minutes of the restart, and thwarted the ball to all parts of the ground to inflict pain and misery on Morgan’s side. Rahul then departed, but a blistering cameo from skipper Kohli coupled with some trademark hitting from Rohit saw the Men in Blue astonishingly chase down the target under 15 overs.
Turning Point
Despite losing two early wickets, the onslaught from Joe Root suggested that England were determined to take the fight to the Indians, but the right-hander’s dismissal in the seventh over turned out to be a sucker punch to the gut for the English side. Root’s dismissal meant that they lost their best player of spin at the most crucial phase of their innings, after which Chahal ran through the other batsmen and exploited radical flaws in their approach versus spin.
Highs and Lows
Flamboyance and aggression are two terms that are not generally associated with Joe Root, but for a brief while today, it looked like England’s Test skipper was possessed by the spirit of Virat Kohli. He remarkably struck three fours in his first four deliveries and instantaneously caught the Indians off guard with some attractive strokeplay. As a neutral, the sheer audacity of his approach made you stand up and applaud.
Defending 141, England needed their trump card to turn the screws on the Indians but Jofra Archer’s timid, listless performance instead ended up leaving a bitter taste. By conceding 30 runs off the first three overs he bowled, not only did Archer fail to provide England the breakthrough they so badly needed, but also ended up undoing the good work of his partner Jordan, who’d conceded just 8 runs in his first spell. A day to forget for the youngster.
Rating Charts
Powerplay exploitation: England 6.5/10 and India 10/10
The powerplay started off in dream fashion for England, with the openers striking three boundaries in the first eight balls, but a double-strike from the Indian pacers dented England’s charge immeasurably and reduced them to 21/2. However, an uncharacteristically aggressive start from Joe Root ensured that England were not pegged back completely and eventually, the Three Lions crawled their way to 42/2. An okayish start that could have been much worse.
Right from the very first ball, Rohit and Rahul looked determined to break the back of England and they, in fact, ended up toying with the English bowlers throughout the course of the first six overs. After a relatively bizarre first couple of overs - amassing just 8 runs in total - the two right-handers cut loose and went berserk as they hit a total of TEN boundaries to put off the English fire. The last three overs of the powerplay remarkably yielded 37 runs and at the end of the 6th over, the required run rate was already down to run a ball.
Middle-overs manoeuvring: England 3/10 and India 10/10
After a somewhat decent start in the powerplay, England encountered a landslide in the middle overs, with leggie Yuzvendra Chahal mercilessly running over them in the phase. Both set batsmen - Roy and Root - fell to Chahal within the first three overs post the field restrictions and from thereon, it was just England clutching at straws. Aggression from the bat of Morgan, Ali and Jordan did ensue, but 61/4 is what the Three Lions eventually ended up with in the hideous phase which saw them lose the plot.
Throughout the course of this SRL, India, time and again, have proved that they’ve mastered the art of batting in the middle overs and today, once again, they brought their smartness to the fore to blunt the English attack. After a near perfect start in the powerplay, both the openers decided to up the ante in the middle in an attempt to kill the game off early and despite losing Rahul in the 10th over, Rohit was ably supported by skipper Kohli, who took charge from the moment he walked in to bat. Together, the duo remarkably put on 56 runs in just 29 balls to take India home in the 15th over.
Death bowling: India 8/10 and England na/10
At 103/6 at the start of the death overs, India had England exactly where they wanted, but a 16-run over bowled by Shardul Thakur in the seventeenth almost sabotaged the Men in Blue’s mission, before their go-to men came to their rescue. With the score 124/7 and with Chris Jordan well set, England, at one point, threatened to go beyond the 150-run mark, but some impeccable bowling at the death from the duo of Saini and Bumrah proved to be too good for the English tail. The duo remarkably conceded just 10 runs off the last three overs and restricted to 141, conceding just 38 runs at the death.
Astonishingly, India chased down their target of 142 in just 14.3 overs, putting an early end to the game. So yeah, there’s nothing much to talk about here.
Match Frenzy O Meter - Good
The match was as one sided as a T20 game can get, but astounding batting from Rohit, Rahul and Kohli more than made up for the fact this contest was one-sided. You know you’ve got your money's worth when you see a side chase down 142 under 15 overs.
