Man of the Match today: The Indian batsman was awarded the Man of the Match award for his maiden T20I half-century.
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During the fourth T20I of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Ahmedabad, India beat England by 8 runs to remain alive in the five-match series.
Chasing a 186-run target, England managed 177/8 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. After an ordinary start to their chase, a brisk 65-run partnership between Jonny Bairstow (25) and Ben Stokes (46) had brought back the visitors into the match.
While spinner Rahul Chahar put a halt to the dangerous partnership by sending back Bairstow in the 15th over, it was pacer Shardul Thakur who dismissed Stokes and Eoin Morgan (4) on consecutive deliveries from in the 17th over.
Just when India appeared to have control of the situation, Jofra Archer (18) hit a couple of fours and a six to bring down the equation to needing 10 runs off the last three balls. Again, it was Thakur who kept his calm to ensure an Indian victory.
With bowling figures of 4-0-42-3, Thakur was the pick of the Indian bowlers tonight. In addition to Thakur, the likes of Hardik Pandya and Rahul Chahar picked a couple of wickets each.
Man of the Match today
In the first innings, India had posted 185/8 in 20 overs on the back of Suryakumar Yadav’s maiden T20I half-century in his debut innings. Replacing injured Ishan Kishan in the Playing XI tonight, Yadav came in to bat at No. 3 in the fourth over.
Well played @surya_14kumar, he hails from a champion @MumbaiCricAssoc side and also plays for another champion side @mipaltan. He turned out as a champion today in his first knock as an India batsman. Enjoy the moment young man #cricket #IndvEng
— Kiran More (@JockMore) March 18, 2021
Yadav, who hit a six off Jofra Archer on the first ball that he faced in international cricket, went on to score 57 (31) with the help of six fours and three sixes to win the ‘Man of the Match’ award.
“Really happy with the way things went. I have always dreamt of playing for India and winning games for the team. Just trying to be myself, I keep talking to myself and keep things very simple,” Yadav told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
