New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 49-ball 80 helped India post 158/7 in the must-win fourth T20I against England at the County Ground in Bristol on Thursday, July 9. The hosts delivered another brilliant bowling performance as Indian batters continued to struggle in the ongoing five-match series.
They bowled hard lengths in the powerplay as Jofra Archer once again removed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for 15 runs in the third over, while Josh Tongue dismissed Ishan Kishan for 4 in the fifth. Abhishek Sharma tried to play a big shot across the line but was removed by Adil Rashid in the seventh over.
Will Jacks ended the partnership by dismissing Shivam Dube for 22 runs in the 14th over, who also tried to play a big shot. Captain Iyer completed his fifty in 33 balls with a maximum over deep square leg in the next over.
He then punished Adil Rashid in the 18th over, smashing two maximums and a boundary. But the hosts made a strong comeback in the final two overs, conceding just 8 runs and taking two wickets. Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue picked up two wickets each, while Will Jacks and Adil Rashid also took one each.
The Men in Blue have made two changes to their playing XI, with Washington Sundar and Prasidh Krishna coming in place of Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana, who were ruled out after sustaining hamstring injuries in the third match.
The visitors are trailing 2-0 in the five-match series, having lost the second T20I by 4 wickets and the third by 125 runs, while the opening match was washed out due to rain.
more to follow…