Super Sixes SRL | IND vs ENG Evaluation Chart - Tantalilizing Ben Stokes seals exciting win in last-over thriller 

Match Review

After winning the toss, England asked India to bat first and took full advantage of it with their strong bowling attack. As KL Rahul took a back seat and looked out of touch, Rohit Sharma guided India along to build a good foundation to their innings. Following Sharma’s strong lead, it was captain Virat Kohli who took charge of the innings and stood tall despite Moeen Ali’s hattrick. And in the end, India were able to post a total of 162/6 after 20 overs. 

In reciprocation to the target of a reasonable target of 163, England started off easy and hurrying at the word go. It was Jason Roy who eased off against Jaspit Bumrah at first and soon Jos Buttler took over charging as Roy took to the back seat. Both openers contributed to put England on a commanding position but a middle-order collapse had put Ben Stokes in charge of the rest of the chase. The English all-rounder whacked two sixes in the final two deliveries, off Bumrah, as England pulled off the chase in the last over, by a margin of 5 wickets. 

You can check out the scorecard and Match Tracker here.

Turning Point 

To me, the turning point of the game was Virat Kohli’s dismissal, courtesy of Mark Wood, in the 17th over, as India were on 136 and with Pandya on the other end. The two could’ve formed a storming partnership for India and added at least 10 extra runs in their total and that could’ve been a target to beat England but, Alas, it ended too soon.

Highs and Lows 

I believe the high of the game was India captain Virat Kohli’s consolidating knock in India’s innings. For long, in the Super Sixes competition, Kohli has been a weak link in the team’s batting but in the last three games the skipper has come back in form and even though the Men In Blue lost today’s game, it’s a good sign for India that Kohli is back to form.

According to me, the low of this game was Jasprit Bumrah’s rare dismal performance, especially in the death overs. Firstly, Bumrah let the English openers start off with confidence in the chase and his reputation in death bowling was murdered as Ben Stokes smashed back to back sixes in the final over to take England all the way. 

Rating Charts

Powerplay exploitation: -  India (7/10) and England(7/10)

At the end of the Powerplay, India were on 48 for the loss of one wicket as KL Rahul’s dismal inning of 4 off 10 was put to an end by Jofra Archer in the sixth over. However, Rohit Sharma had taken good care of India’s innings in the first six overs. He fired at Mark Wood, in the fifth over, with three fours and a six taking India to 44/0 at the end of five overs. The final over of the Powerplay, bowled by Archer, was a bit of a low for India as it only added four runs and saw the dismissal of Rahul. As Kohli came out to the middle, Rohit was on 42 off 25 - a huge promise for India.

On the other hand, chasing a decent target of 163, England were looking confident on 49 as they did not lose any wicket in the first six overs.  England started off with Roy hitting Bumrah and soon Buttler gained his confidence too and the fifth over of the chase saw Shardul Thakur conceding 13 runs. The sixth over, too, bowled by Bumrah, saw England squeezing out 13 runs, with Buttler adding three fours. At the end of the Powerplay, the two English openers looked settled with Roy on 21 off 20 and Buttler on 27 off 16.

Middle overs:-  India (7/10) and England(5.5/10)

Despite losing the wicket of Rahul in the sixth over, India were looking confident with Rohit Sharma in full form and Kohli just joining him. The two added 64 runs in the second-wicket partnership before Rohit (70 off 46) was shown off in the first ball of the 14th over by Moeen Ali. But that wasn’t catastrophic for India with Kohli still being there. However, what followed was definitely fatal as Ali bagged a hattrick by removing Iyer and Pant for first-ball ducks. At the end of 15 overs, India were on 121/4 with Kohli on 36 off 26  and Hardik Pandya 9 off 6.

On the other hand, the opening partnership between Buttler and Roy was broken pretty early following the end of the Powerplay as spin came into the attack. The seventh over, bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal saw the dismissal of Buttler(30 off 19). And soon, in the following over by Shardul Thakur, Bairstow was shown off for a duck. The English middle-order did disappoint a lot in the chase but Roy carried on his quest of runs. After Roy’s dismissal in the 13th over, the chase was on the shoulders of Ben Stokes. So at the end of 15 overs, adding just 60 runs in the nine overs since the Powerplay, England’s total looked lacking on 109/5. 

Death Bowling: - England(7/10) and India (3/10)

At the end of the 15th over, India had a fairly decent score of 121/4 on the board with Kohli still being in the middle and leading India after a solid partnership with Sharma had ended. The final five overs saw, India squeezing out occasional boundaries despite the strong English attack but fairly succumbed on most deliveries as well. They lost a couple of wickets while adding 41 runs in the death overs while Archer and Jordan did a considerably good job in controlling the runs. 

On the other hand, England required 54 runs off 30 deliveries to win the game with Stokes and Moeen Ali in the middle. Ali had a great day with the ball, as he bagged a hattrick, and that form was translated into his batting as well. Even though Indian bowlers started off well in the deaths, the game was fully thrown away in the final over bowled by Bumrah as 20 runs were conceded off it with Stokes thundering two sixes off the final couple of deliveries and taking England to a five-wicket victory.

Match Frenzy O Meter  - Excellent

Not at any point in the game did England seem to have a pure advantage over India and it never went on to become a purely one-sided affair. The final over was the sole reason why England were able to win the game and the thrill was overpowering making it a great T20 competition.