Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s maiden six-wicket haul turned things around for India as the hosts beat England by 75 runs in the third and final Twenty20 International to clinch the series 2-1 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Chasing a mammoth 203, England were on track till the 13th over, scoring 119/2 before Chahal’s magical spell (6/25) put the visitors on the backfoot as they surrendered meekly to lose their last eight wickets for just eight runs and end on 127.

England started well with opener Jason Roy (32) and Joe Root (42) putting on 47 runs for the second wicket before Root combined with skipper Eoin Morgan (40) and added 64 runs for the third wicket to put them in a commanding position.

But thereafter it was Chahal all the way, who triggered a collapse by sending back Morgan and Root off consecutive deliveries before pacer Jasprit Bumrah (3/14) added to their woes by striking in the very next over to dismiss wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (0).

England’s batsmen were in such a hurry that it hardly took Chahal another over to take three more wickets of Ben Stokes (6), Moeen Ali (2) and Chris Jordan (0) and dash any hopes of a recovery.

Tottering at 127/9, Bumrah packed back tailender Tymal Mills (0) to seal the deal in favour of India.

As many as six English batsmen were dismissed for a duck while only three managed to reach double figures.

Earlier, seasoned campaigners Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck brilliant half centuries to help India post a mammoth 202/6 after being sent into bat.

Raina’s 45-ball 63 helped the hosts set the tone for the massive total before southpaw Yuvraj Singh (27) and former skipper Dhoni (56) finished things off in style as India recovered from the early loss of captain Virat Kohli (2).

India were off to a dismal start losing Kohli to a silly run-out in the second over of the match before one-down Suresh Raina joined opener Lokesh Rahul (22) in the middle and the right-left duo added 61 runs for the second wicket in no time.

Raina, especially was the more aggressive of the two, as he dispatched pacer Chris Jordan for two sixes in the last over of the mandatory field restrictions.

Just when the hosts looked set for a huge total, all-rounder Ben Stokes cleaned up Rahul with a length ball after the right-hander hit two fours and a six in his 18-ball knock.

The fall of Rahul brought in Dhoni, who played a few deliveries to get used to the wicket with Raina, at the other end, taking full advantage of the dropped chance off leg-spinner Adil Rashid to bring up his career’s fourth half-century with a brilliant six off the leggie.

Raina and Dhoni continued to torment the English bowlers as India crossed the three-figure mark in the 13th over before pacer Liam Plunkett returned for a second spell to end the left-hander’s 45-ball knock, laced with two boundaries and five huge hits over the fence.

With India comfortably placed at 120/3, the stage was set for new man Yuvraj Singh (27) and Dhoni to step on the gas for a good total.

The Ranchi stumper took the mantle of the scoring, bringing up his career’s maiden T20I half-century off 32 deliveries before the Punjab southpaw showed his class to dispatch Jordan for a four and three sixes in the 18th over to take India to 177/3.

Yuvraj’s breezy innings, however, ended on the first ball of the 19th over when he misjudged a slower delivery from Mills to be caught behind by stumper Jos Buttler. His 10-ball cameo included one four and three sixes.

Yuvraj’s wicket brought in 19-year-old debutant Rishabh Pant (6 not out), who played second fiddle to Dhoni, as Jordan ended the 35-year-old’s brilliant effort on the second ball of the last over of the innings.

Dhoni, who consumed 36 deliveries for his knock, laced with five fours and two sixes, got a top edge to be caught by Rashid at short fine leg.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya (11) then added 11 runs with Pant to take India past the 200-run mark.

For the visitors, all the pacers — Mills, Jordan, Plunkett and Stokes — took one wicket apiece.

Chahal, who hails from Haryana, bagged both the Man-of-the-match as well as the Man-of-the-series awards.

India produced an inspired bowling display to deny England their first limited-overs series in the country since 1984, winning the second Twenty-20 International (T20I) by five runs.

India posted 144/8 after being sent into bat in the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. England, seemingly in control, faltered at the end to be restricted to 139/6.

Young pacer Jasprit Bumrah bowled an inspired last over, conceding only two runs, to deny England a victory. He finished the match with figures of 20/2 in his four overs, giving away only three runs in the 18th over.

Veteran pacer Asish Nehra (3/28) also contributed to India’s win.

England won the first match of the three-match series by seven wickets at Kanpur. The third match is at Bengaluru on February 1.

Sam Billings (12) got England going in the run chase with two huge sixes of leg-spinner Yuzvender Chahal in the third over.

But Nehra struck twice in the next over, having Billings (12) caught by Bumrah at fine leg in the first ball and then induced a leading edge of Jason Roy (10) in the next ball to be caught at mid-on by Suresh Raina.

The twin strikes jolted England. They needed time to get back in their run-chasing groove.

Skipper Eoin Morgan (17) and Joe Root (38) began rebuilding. Root struck two fours in the ninth over, off leg-spinner Amit Mishra, to increase the run rate.

England reached 65/2 in 10 overs, needing 80 more runs to win in 60 balls.

But their ambitions received a blow when Morgan mistimed a lofted shot off Mishra to be caught at deep midwicket in the 11th over.

Mishra then bowled Ben Stokes (38) in the third ball of the over but replays showed he overstepped to concede a no-ball.

Stokes launched himself to a boundary and a six off Raina in the 14th over to increase the run rate. He continued with a pull shot off Chahal for a six to bring up England’s 100 in the 15th over.

England were 104/3 in 15 overs, needing 41 runs off 30 balls.

The 52-run fourth-wicket partnership of Root and Stokes steadily took England to a rare series win in India.

A desperate Kohli, needing a breakthrough, brought back Nehra, who duly responded, removing Stokes with a slower fuller delivery on middle stump that the left-hander missed and was adjudged leg before wicket.

The pressure oscillated towards the English batsmen despite Root anchoring one end. But they needed 24 runs from 12 balls and urgently needed boundaries.

Jos Butler (15) whipped Nehra for a four and a six in the 19th over to inch them closer.

Root was caught lbw by Bumrah in the first ball of the last over, with England needing eight for victory. Bumrah then castled Butler in the fourth ball, with England still requiring seven runs off two balls, which proved too much.

Earlier, India posted a paltry total.

Opener K.L. Rahul (71) was the top scorer for the hosts while Manish Pandey contributed with a crucial 30 runs.

Put in to bat, Indian openers Virat Kohli and Rahul started the innings cautiously by playing the ball to its merit.

After four overs, Kohli, who slammed 21 runs in 15 balls, failed to continue his aggressive batting as he was dismissed by pacer Chris Jordan.

Jordan bowled a slower and wider ball, to which Kohli stepped out for a lofted shot but ended up getting caught at long-on to Liam Dawson.

Incoming batsman Raina, who impressed in the last match at Kanpur, was sent back by leg-spinner Adil Rashid after only two overs with seven runs.

The recalled left-hander tried to slog sweep but ended up hitting the ball straight to Jordan at long-on.

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After eight overs, India were struggling at 56/2 with two premier batsmen departing cheaply.

Rahul, who seemed to be in good nick, played his regular shots and signalled his return to form while incoming batsman Yuvraj Singh failed to step up to the occasion, being sent packing in the 11th over while trying a sweep to spinner Moeen Ali. The Punjab batsman was adjudged leg before wicket.

Unperturbed by the fall of wickets, Rahul went on to slam a quick-fire fifty. His 32-ball knock was laced with three boundaries and two massive sixes.

The fall of Yuvraj’s wicket brought in Manish Pandey, who along with Rahul helped the hosts to get past 100-run mark in the 14th over.

Both batsmen forged a 56-run fourth-wicket partnership before Rahul was caught by Strokes at deep mid-wicket.

Jordan bowled a slower delivery on the off-stump to end an impressive 47-ball knock of Rahul.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni then joined Pandey and together they made their intentions clear right from the beginning of their partnership.

Pandey slammed a huge six off a slower and fuller delivery of pacer Tymal Mills. The 27-year-old got underneath the ball and muscled it out of the field. But he was bowled out by Mills in the same over.

In the last over, the hosts failed to press the accelerator, only managing five runs, losing three wickets in the process.

For England, Jordan scalped 3-22 to be the most successful while Mills, Ali and Rashid chipped in with a wicket each.

Brief score: India: 144/8 (K.L.Rahul 71, Manish Pandey 21; Chris Jordan 3-22), England 139/6 (Joe Root 38, Ben Stokes 38; Asish Nehra 3/28)

Ahead of the gruelling five-match Test rubber against India, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has cautioned his side against the batting prowess of Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who is going through a purple patch in all formats of the game at the moment.

Considered among the top three batsmen in the world, Kohli has often drawn comparisons with young English batter Joe Root, which Pieterson feels isn’t a fair comparison.

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“Kohli is as good as it gets. He is right up there. Root has good numbers, but it’s unfair to even compare Joe with Virat because his numbers are just phenomenal. He plays so aggressively – sometimes it’s like – are you serious? The way he makes big runs for his team so often is just remarkable,” the swashbuckling right-hander was quoted as saying by ‘The Cricketer’ magazine.

With most touring teams failing to handle spin in sub-continent conditions, Pietersen had a piece of advice for the young English batters, who will be up against the formidable combo of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-armer Ravindra Jadeja alongside leggie Amit Mishra.

The 36-year-old said that England will have to watch out for the doosra from the Chennai offie, who can single-handedly change the course of a match in Indian conditions.

At home, Ashwin has been in red-hot touch, picking up 153 wickets in 22 Tests. His 27 wickets, helped India complete a 3-0 clean sweep of New Zealand in the recently concluded series.

“When I’ve played against him, I could pick his doosra, so I was OK. But if England’s batsmen can’t pick his doosra they’ll have issues. I was always looking to smash his offspinner.,” Pietersen said.

“The low bounce might make it harder, but that’s part of the challenge of playing in India”.

“Batsmen have got to find themselves a boundary option in India. It’s all about rotating the strike and manoeuvring the field. I was OK in India. I enjoyed it there. I made plenty of hundreds there.

“Ashwin is a good bowler. He uses his variations very well, especially the way he approaches the crease. He’s always looking to attack and outfox a batsman,” he added.

England last toured India in 2012, when they defeated the hosts 2-1 but the upcoming series will be an exciting battle as No.1-ranked India have made rapid strides in the longest format, while England are coming from a shocking defeat to Bangladesh.

The first match of the series will be played at Rajkot from November 9.

IANS

As the Euro 2016 kicks off in France, we chat with a few fans to find out where their allegiance lies. Unsurprisingly, France, Germany and England seem to be the most popular nations. We also ask the people which players they will miss the most this summer.

The 2016 Euros will be the 15th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organised by UEFA.

The battle for the title will be closely contested with World Cup winners Germany and France, who have the home advantage, arguably being the favourites. Spain will look to bounce back from their shocker at the World Cup. Poland, Croatia, Austria are among the dark horses with Wales looking to continue their form from qualifying as they make their first appearance in a major tournament since 1958. Bottom line, it’s set to be a month of thrilling football.

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