Bristol, Jul 9 (PTI) India skipper Shreyas Iyer appeared to be batting on a different surface, producing a measured captain’s knock of an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls to steer his side to 158 for seven in the must-win fourth and penultimate T20I against England here on Thursday.
Iyer, who struck five sixes and four boundaries, held the innings together as wickets tumbled around him, with the other Indian batters paying the price for an overly aggressive approach on yet another bouncy wicket.
He added 53 runs with Shivam Dube (22), but with wickets falling regularly, Iyer was forced to assume the role of the sheet anchor.
He cut loose in the 18th over, taking leg-spinner Adil Rashid for two sixes and a four in a 20-run burst.
That over, however, proved
to be an exception as England’s bowlers executed their plans superbly.
Sam Curran conceded just four runs in the penultimate over, while England allowed only eight runs and no boundaries in the final two overs.
Jofra Archer (2/20) capped the innings with a two-wicket final over including the run-out of Axar Patel.
The extra bounce once again took its toll on the Indian top order as Archer removed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (15) for the second time in as many innings, before new-ball partner Josh Tongue (2/36) dismissed Ishan Kishan (4) inside the powerplay.
Adil Rashid then struck in his opening over, removing a well-set Abhishek Sharma (16) to leave India reeling at 48-3 inside seven overs.
It seemed another batting collapse for Team India before Iyer led by example and held the innings together.
From there, Iyer and Dube — promoted to No. 5 to counter the spin — steadied the innings with a cautious recovery.
Harry Brook brought Archer back for a quick one-over spell, but Iyer smartly evaded his short-ball strategy before upper-cutting the pacer for a six.
Iyer looked in fine touch, later dancing down the track to loft Rashid for his second maximum.
Dube at the other end, looked the weak link, struggling to unleash his trademark explosive shots before perishing for a 23-ball 22.
The duo brought up their 50-run partnership as India went past the 100-mark.
Dube then threw his wicket away hoicking Will Jacks straight to long-off.
His slow middle-over knock suggested that Tilak Varma might have been a better choice at No. 5 but the Indian vice-captain also failed to complement his skipper getting out cheaply (11).
Earlier, Sooryavanshi’s swing-at-everything approach, which paid dividends on flat Indian tracks, proved to be his downfall again.
The crestfallen 15-year-old looked heavenwards after capping yet another poor start against his Rajasthan Royals teammate Archer.
Following his landmark debut in Manchester, the opener now has scores of 14, 13, and 15.
Sooryavanshi’s hoick had landed in no-man’s land earlier in the over, but he couldn’t escape Archer’s next back-of-a-length delivery outside off, holing out to Sam Curran at mid-on.
Kishan followed soon after when Tongue, switching ends, banged one in short. The Indian keeper-batter was undone by the extra bounce, top-edging the ball into the keeper’s gloves.
The biggest blow, however, came just after the powerplay when Rashid took a brilliant running catch off his own bowling to dismiss the fluent Abhishek.
India trail the five-T20I series 0-2 with the first match being a wash-out. PTI TAP ATK
