Man of the Match today: The Indian fast bowler was awarded the Man of the Match for his outstanding spell tonight.
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During the fifth T20I of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Ahmedabad, India beat England by 36 runs to clinch the five-match series 3-2.
Chasing a mammoth 225-run target, England were reduced to 188/8 in 20 overs despite a dangerous 130-run partnership for the second wicket between vice-captain Jos Buttler (52) and batsman Dawid Malan (68).
It was Buttler’s priced scalp which had initiated a batting collapse as a mounting required run rate had left little options for the visitors. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been incredible on international comeback in this series, picked bowling figures of 4-0-15-2 in a high-scoring clash. However, Shardul Thakur who was the pick of the bowlers with bowling figures of 4-0-45-3.
Man of the Match today
After England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited India in to bat, the home team posted 224/2 in 20 overs on the back of individual half-centuries from captain Virat Kohli (80*) and vice-captain Rohit Sharma (64).
Opening the batting together for the first-time ever at the highest level, India’s senior duo had put together a 94-run opening partnership. The Indian innings was also bolstered by pivotal innings from all-rounder Hardik Pandya (39*) and batsman Suryakumar Yadav (32).
Setting a praiseworthy precedent, the Man of the Match was awarded to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a high-scoring match. It is worth mentioning that the right-arm bowler bowled a total of 17 dot balls tonight to not give the opposition batsmen any chance of scoring boundaries.
“Always good to be back. Always good to contribute to the team’s win. All good body wise. Was confident because I played the domestic matches. When you get a wicket in the first over with the in-swingers, always gives you joy and confidence,” Bhuvneshwar told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
