India posted their highest T20I total against England in the fifth match.
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir credited India's middle-order batsmen for India's highest total against England in T20Is. India scored 224/2 against England in the fifth T20I at Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday (March 20).
India got a good start with new opening pair of Rohit Sharma (64) and Virat Kohli (80*). They added 94 runs for the first wicket. But what impressed Gambhir the most was innings by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. He felt they both scored the difficult runs for the team.
"I’m not going to take anything away from Virat Kohli but then he had people like Suryakumar Yadav. There wasn’t a single phase in these 20 overs where England was in control," Gambhir said in a video on ESPNCricinfo.
"Mostly there have been times when a team gets off to a flier – six overs 60 runs – but there is a phase after those six overs, where the team tries to push it back, especially the bowling team. But if you see Suryakumar Yadav’s innings, if you can get that 30-odd off 17 balls and you can continue that same momentum, it’s always difficult."
While Yadav scored 32 off 17 deliveries, Pandya provided a good finish with unbeaten 39 runs in 17 balls. Gambhir feels it wasn't easy for the middle-order batsman to come after the powerplay and get going from the first delivery.
"It’s easy for Virat Kohli because he’s been in and he’s batted for six overs. But suddenly after coming out to bat after six overs, and playing at that tempo and Hardik Pandya coming in and playing on that tempo, it’s a different ball game," he said.
"Yes, Kohli batted throughout and you expect Virat to do that. If he bats through, he will get a strike rate of probably 140. But then it’s those difficult runs which I was mentioning about, how important it is after six overs. So what they – Surya and Hardik – did was commendable. Can’t be perfect that this… from start till the end."
Indian bowlers did the rest of the job by restricting England to 188/8 to win the match by 36 runs. They won the series 3-2 after being 2-1 down before registering consecutive wins.
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)