All-round India win 4th T20I match, secure series against England

CHENNAI: In the end it was a stroll in the park for the hosts. The evening did not start as India would have liked. They were reeling at 12/3 after two overs with England pacer Saqib Mahmood striking thrice in his first over of the fourth T20I at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday.
Then came a minor recovery. Abhishek Sharma (29) and Rinku Singh (30) though provided some solidity in the middle but departed in quick successions as the hosts were reduced to 79/5 inside 11 overs.
This was followed by big stand when Hardik Pandya joined forces with Shivam Dube, who made it to the playing XI replacing all-rounder Washington Sundar.
The duo after settling in plundered runs at will as India amassed 102 runs from the remaining nine overs to post a formidable total of 181/9 in 20 overs. The total proved enough for them as England fell short by 15 runs. Pandya had been struggling for big knocks and this would have given him the necessary boost.
It was Pandya, who led the onslaught hammering four sixes and as many fours to shift the momentum in India's favour. Dube's innings was laced with seven fours and two sixes. It all began in the 13th overs with Pandya despatching pacer Brydon Carse for two consecutive fours.
Dube then hit Adil Rashid for a four and a six in the next over as India crossed 100 runs. Mahmood was in the firing line next as Pandya launched him for two huge sixes. Jofra Archer conceded 17 runs in the next over while Jamie Overton went for 20 after him.
The last ball of the over, however, saw Pandya being dismissed much to the relief of the England. Both Pandya and Dube scored 53 runs each.
In reply, England started well scoring 62 in the powerplay. However, openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett got out soon after to hand over advantage to India.
The hosts also saw pacer Harshit Rana replace Dube as concussion substitute and it worked in their favour with the former claiming three wickets. Whether it was a like to like substitute remained debatable.
Spinner Ravi Bishnoi scalped three while in-form tweaker Varun Chakravarthy bagged two wickets.
Earlier, the hosts made three changes to their side bringing in Rinku, who missed two matches with injury, in place of Dhruv Jurel.
Arshdeep Singh replaced Mohammed Shami while Dube came in for Sundar. England, meanwhile, rested Mark Wood for Mahmood and brought back Jacob Bethell for Jamie Smith.
Once skipper Jos Buttler won the toss, he had no hesitation in inviting India to bat. Mahmood, who could not obtain travel document in time as he has Pakistan heritage and had to miss England training camp in the UAE ahead of the series, gave a dream start to the visitors but all that went in vain in the end.
With the win, Suryakumar and Co have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Brief scores: India 181/9 in 20 ovs (Duber 53, Hardik 53; Mahmood 3/35, Overton 2/32) bt England 166 in 19.4 ovs (Brook 51; Bishnoi 3/28, Rana 3/33).