Finally, something to cheer for the Indian fans. India was able to make the head to head T20 stats against England 3-3. India went into the game with high pressure, specially after the ghost of the dismal test series behind them. Team India had to start afresh, start positively and they were able to do so.
India played Rahane in place of Sehwag. Pacer Parvinder Awana was also given a game. India won the toss and decided to bowl first with a heavy spin attack and 2 pacers. The pacers being Dinda and Awana and the spin attack consisted of Ashwin, Chawla, Raina, Jadeja and Yuvi. Surprisingly, Kohli was also made to bowl. After the early departure of Lumb; Hales and Wright gave England a great start. From being 21/1 after 3 overs, they helped England reach 89/1 after 10 overs and at this stage England was really looking for an above 180 score. Dhoni had deployed 7 bowlers in the first 9 overs itself, but to no affect.
The man on a mission, the man to rescue India turned out to be Yuvraj. He scalped the critical wickets of Wright and Hales in the 11th and 13th over and tightened the proceedings. Dinda and Jadeja also bowled some tidy overs and India did not allow England to get off the hook. England could only manage 58 runs of the last 10 overs and in the process lost 5 wickets. England thus ended at 157/5 and posed India a decent challenge. Yuvi ended with figures of 4 – 0 – 19 – 3 and Dinda had figures of 3 – 0 – 18 – 2.
India needed a solid start to guide them in the chase. Gambhir and Rahane provided India a good start before Gambhir departed in the 4th score after scoring 16 runs. Rahane also followed Gambhir in the same over after scoring 19 runs. Rahane did however play a couple of lusty blows all over the fence. India was 44/2 after 5 overs when Yuvi walked into bat. He caressed and he stroked the ball so well, mesmerizing his fans all over the world. It never seemed like he was playing his first T20 after his return from cancer. He hit 2 fours and 3 sixes in an effortless 38 of 21 balls. He was severely harsh on Briggs scoring 18 runs of his one and only over. By the time Yuvi departed, India had reached 93 runs of 10 overs. And the required rate now was about 6.5; Raina, Kohli and Dhoni then guided India home with ease. Raina played some good strokes in his innings of 26. Dhoni hit the winning runs and remained not out on 24 of 21 balls. India reached home with 2.1 overs to spare.
India pulled it off easily today, thanks to the heroic efforts of Yuvraj Singh. But will India be able to carry the momentum in the next T20 game on 22nd Dec at Mumbai?