England vs. India, Only T20I: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
Eoin Morgan's spectacular 71 led England to a tense three-run victory over India in the one and only Twenty20 International at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Arriving at the crease at 75-3, England's T20 captain blasted three fours and seven sixes in just 31 deliveries, propelling the hosts to a total of 180 in front of a largely Indian crowd in Birmingham.
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In reply, the visitors looked to be cruising toward the required total as Virat Kohli reached his first international half-century of the tour, racing to 131-2 with six overs still to be bowled.
But quick wickets pegged India back, with Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja all falling in the space of three-and-a-half overs, leaving captain MS Dhoni with the task of hauling his side over the line.
Needing 17 runs for victory as the final over began, Dhoni clubbed Chris Woakes' first ball over mid-wicket to reduce the equation to 11 runs from five balls. A two and another boundary from the next three deliveries left five needed from two, with the captain still on strike.
However, Dhoni turned down a single after miscuing the penultimate delivery, leaving himself with the responsibility to strike either a four to push the game to a super over or a six to claim victory.
He was unable to do either, only managing a single to fall four runs short of the 181-run target.
Earlier in the day, Alex Hales and debutant Jason Roy had gotten the home side off to a quick start after Morgan had won the toss and elected to bat, thumping 17 runs from Ravichandran Ashwin's opening over.
But England's innings quickly lost momentum when Roy and Moeen Ali fell in the space of three balls, both caught by Ajinkya Rahane.
Hales, returning to his favourite format after a stint in the 50-over side, kept the hosts' innings moving forward alongside Joe Root, quickly moving to 40 with a huge six off the bowling of Jadeja.
Dismissed from the next very delivery, though, the opener made way for Morgan, who started with a six before settling into a patient beginning to his innings.
That all changed in the 16th over when the left-hander thumped consecutive boundaries off Jadeja, kick-starting a breathtaking assault from the England skipper that finished with consecutive sixes off Mohit Sharma.
"Eoin Morgan #STATBYTE: First 15 balls: 15 runs Next 16 balls: 56 runs
— Alternative Cricket (@AltCricket) September 7, 2014"
After some further late hitting from Ravi Bopara, England reached what had seemed like an unlikely total of 180-7, punishing India's seamers, who couldn't find the right length in the dying overs of the innings.
| JJ Roy | c Rahane b Mohammed Shami | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| AD Hales | c Rahane b Jadeja | 40 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 160.00 |
| MM Ali | c Rahane b MM Sharma | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| JE Root | c Rayudu b KV Sharma | 26 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 89.65 |
| EJG Morgan* | c Rahane b Mohammed Shami | 71 | 31 | 3 | 7 | 229.03 |
| JC Buttler† | c Rayudu b Mohammed Shami | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| RS Bopara | not out | 21 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 233.33 |
| CR Woakes | run out (†Dhoni) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Extras | (lb 3, nb 1) | 4 | ||||
| Total | (7 wickets; 20 overs) | 180 | ||||
| R Ashwin | 4 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 9.25 | |
| MM Sharma | 4 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 9.75 | |
| Mohammed Shami | 4 | 0 | 38 | 3 | 9.50 | |
| KV Sharma | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| RA Jadeja | 4 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 8.75 | 1nb |
Typically comfortable when chasing totals in the limited-overs formats, India proceeded to make a bright start to the second innings, as Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan overcame the early loss of Rahane to reach 89-1 after the first 10 overs.
At the end of a humbling tour, Kohli finally displayed the excellence expected of him, smashing boundaries with a sumptuous combination of power and finesse during a fine 66.
After getting going with a wristy flick to mid-wicket off Harry Gurney, the precocious right-hander thumped three consecutive fours off Woakes in the fourth over, the highlight being a marvellous flick behind square that almost cleared the rope.
Even after the loss of Dhawan in the 11th over, Kohli continued to push India toward the required total with the assistance of Raina, thumping a six off James Tredwell before striking four boundaries in the space of seven balls off Woakes and Moeen.
But Kohli's dismissal—caught in the deep by Hales off the bowling of Steven Finn—put the brakes on India, and the visitors struck just one boundary in the next four overs.
| AM Rahane | b Ali | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 200.00 |
| S Dhawan | b Woakes | 33 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 117.85 |
| V Kohli | c Hales b Finn | 66 | 41 | 9 | 1 | 160.97 |
| SK Raina | b Gurney | 25 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 125.00 |
| MS Dhoni*† | not out | 27 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 150.00 |
| RA Jadeja | run out (Bopara/Finn) | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 175.00 |
| AT Rayudu | not out | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Extras | (lb 4, w 4) | 8 | ||||
| Total | (5 wickets; 20 overs) | 177 | ||||
| ST Finn | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| MM Ali | 3 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 10.33 | 1w |
| HF Gurney | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | 1w |
| CR Woakes | 4 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 10.75 | 1w |
| RS Bopara | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14.00 | 1w |
| JC Tredwell | 4 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 7.00 |
Despite his reputation as the world's finest limited-overs finisher, Dhoni couldn't haul his team to victory in the final overs, meaning India concluded a long tour that began in June with a three-run defeat.
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