Dominant India Thrash Sorry England
We need to find a better word to describe what occurred than "collapse". Don't get me wrong the phrase: "English batting collapse" has a certain inevitability about it, and it really is a fantastic way of describing the skittle effect as one wicket follows another. But this was beyond a collapse. This was an implosion, a capitulation, a self-destruction of epic proportions. England didn't so much fall apart as spontaneously combust. From 119-2, they were bowled all out for 127, losing by 75 runs. This after India had hit over 200 on a pitch that really wasn't doing much at all.
Eoin Morgan of course, deserves a lot of credit for his handling of the situation post-match. He's gotten very, very good at taking the pressure and the blame away from his young and inexperienced (and frankly at times not good enough) bowling attack, and putting the blame squarely on himself, and his fellow batsmen, particularly the cool and experienced heads of Buttler and Root, with the latter taking the flak alongside the captain in the post-match press conference. And whilst I think it's nevertheless a deflection, deflecting the blame onto the captain and vice-captain, especially when they top-scored in England's innings, is not a bad tactic.
But if we're talking about credit, then let's put it where it truly belongs, with Yuzvendra Chahal, whose incredible spell of 6-25 took England apart. Yes, the wickets of Root and Morgan in the same over sent England spiraling into not so much a freefall as a plummet, but not only was Chahal's brilliance responsible for those two wickets, but he kept on bowling sumptuous cricket to dismiss Stokes, Moeen and Jordan in the following over.
Earlier, it had been Suresh Raini and MS Dhoni who had put England to the sword, assisted by Yuvraj and Rahul, as India hit a mammoth 202-6, which generated the scoreboard pressure that triggered the collapse. England got off to a great start as a moment of madness from Virat Kohli saw him removed, but some huge shots, including one out of the stadium from Rahul left them under no illusion that this was a pitch for scoring 200 on.
Despite removing Rahul to keep themselves in the hunt, England toiled as India systematically took them apart in the back ten. Raina's dismissal for an exceptional 63 off 45 with six and a half overs to go and 120 on the board failed to even slow India down. In fact if anything it accelerated them as Yuvraj came in and went mad, scoring 27 off 10 as Dhoni plundered 56 off 36 at the other end.
If 202 was a disappointing total for England to concede, it was certainly not unchaseable, especially as their batting line up is full of strength and power down the order. And despite Chahal removing the unfortunate Billings for a duck, Jason Roy went hard: scoring 32 off 23 alongside Joe Root to set England up well for Eoin Morgan to enter the fray, with England 55-2 off just over 6 overs. And from there, things looked very well set for a fantastic grand stand finish, as Morgan hit 39 off 19 and Root 42 off 35 for England to reach 114-2 with 8 overs to go.
At that point, the scoreboard pressure told. A really good over from Mishra built the pressure as Root struggled to accelerate, heaving more pressure onto Morgan. Morgan tried one big shot too many and didn't quite middle it against Chahal, and his dismissal was a real blow for England. But then Root completely misjudged a darting quicker delivery from Chahal that had him out LBW and all out panic set in. Buttler and Stokes, realising England needed 84 from 6 overs, went big and hard too early, and weren't set. Both were caught. Moeen suffered a similar fate and from there the end was inevitable. India's death bowling was exceptional again, but England just completely, and understandably, lost their heads. Nevertheless, losing 8 wickets for 8 runs is an incredibly painful and sad way to end what was a very even and terrific T20 series, and what had the potential to be an incredibly tense and high-scoring finale.
But all credit to India who were composed and strong as ever, and with bat and ball they were all over England. They kept their cool when England looked like they might get close to the mammoth total that India had set and proved that their batting line up has seriously explosive firepower and is not even slightly reliant on Virat Kohli.
As for England, they have a lot of work to do on the bowling side of their game but I think it's important not to overstate the nature of this collapse. Yes, a lack of composure and some poor shots were involved, but the collapse was mitigated by a run rate of 14 runs per over, leaving Stokes and Buttler no time to get themselves set, and forcing big shots that accelerated England's demise. A bigger problem for England is that they didn't have any bowlers capable of doing what India's did on the day, and the form of Adil Rashid is becoming a major issue.
So England have to lick their wounds, but for India, it's a clean sweep. Tests, ODI, T20s. And they deserved to win all three.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Gabriel Jesus and Man City looking a real threat.
- Spurs, United and Arsenal all humbled.
- Chelsea all but secure the title at Anfield.
- Big wins for Swansea and Palace at the bottom.
- Six Nations team news out. Not long now.
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