Vaibhav Sooryavanshi T20I Innings: 14, 13, 15.
England pace spearhead Jofra Archer further exposed the vulnerability of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi by getting
the teenage India batting sensation with a short-pitched bouncer for the second successive game.
Opening India's innings in the 4th T20I at Bristol on Thursday (July 9), Sooryavanshi once again showed glimpses of his immense talent but failed to make his start count. The left-handed batting sensation - who arrived amidst a lot of hype on the English shores - departed for 15 off 10 balls as the visitors once again failed to get to a good start in the powerplay.
Sooryavanshi's difficult introduction to international cricket continued in the fourth T20I against England as Archer - his fellow Rajasthan Royals teammate in IPL - ensured the batter didn't cause any damage to the hosts. Sooryavanshi had fallen to Archer in the previous match at Trent Bridge as well in the game India lost by 125 runs.
Jofra Archer Tests Vaibhav Sooryavanshi With Short Ball
The young opener showed flashes of his extraordinary talent, smashing a four and a six, but once again failed to convert an aggressive start into a substantial innings. The Bihar batting prodigy's first three international scores now read 14, 13 and 15, with Archer dismissing him in each of his last two appearances.
England appeared to have a clear plan against Sooryavanshi from the first delivery. Archer opened the attack and immediately tested the youngster with pace and short-pitched bowling.
Sooryavanshi attempted to pull the first delivery he faced, but the 143kph ball hit the upper part of his bat and rolled towards square leg. Two deliveries later, the teenager again attempted the pull after backing away before Archer delivered the ball. This time, he spliced the 140kph delivery over Adil Rashid at midwicket and survived.
Archer continued to vary his lengths and ended the opening over with a 146kph yorker outside off stump that beat Sooryavanshi. The England pacer had already given the youngster plenty to think about.
Sooryavanshi's Weakness Exposed?
In the second over, Sooryavanshi seemed to have found his rhythm against Josh Tongue in the second over. After Abhishek Sharma started the over with a boundary, the 15-year-old produced two impressive strokes.
Sooryavanshi first used his quick hands to smash a 143kph short-of-a-length delivery through extra cover for four. He followed it with an even more audacious stroke. Tongue provided pace, bounce and width, and Sooryavanshi stayed on the back foot to upper-cut the ball over third man for six.
The two boundaries took him to 13 off seven balls as India collected 15 runs from the second over and raced to 20 without loss.
Archer returned for his second over with Sooryavanshi seemingly determined to continue attacking, and the youngster attempted another pull shot off a back-of-a-length delivery and survived as the ball landed safely between two fielders.
Two deliveries later, Archer got his man. The right-arm pacer bowled short of a length and marginally wide outside off stump. Sooryavanshi went hard at the ball, attempting another pull shot. But the ball hit the upper part of his bat and went high in the air. Sam Curran settled underneath it at mid-on and completed the catch.
Sooryavanshi stood momentarily in disappointment before slowly walking back to the pavilion. His innings was over for 15 off 10 balls. India thus, lost their first wicket for 23 in 2.4 overs, Ishan Kishan - who replaced Sooryavanshi at one-down - failed to make it count as he too was dismissed, for 4, in a space of ten balls. India, thus, lost two wickets inside the powerplay.
