Yuzvendra Chahal bowled a spell to remember on his IPL home ground – the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru – to send England into a spin and give India an absolutely thumping victory in the third T20.
India vs England 3rd T20 as it happened
In a must-win game, England again had the early advantage by winning the toss, with Eoin Morgan putting India in to bat.
While Virat Kohli lost his wicket early, Suresh Raina (63, 45b, 2x4, 5x6) and MS Dhoni (56, 36b, 5x4, 2x6), coming in at No.3 and No.4, struck wonderful half-centuries and with a little bit of help from KL Rahul (22, 18b, 2x4, 1x6) and Yuvraj Singh (27, 10b, 1x4, 3x6), the home side posted 202/6 in 20 overs.
In reply, England were in with a shout when Morgan (40, 21b, 2x4, 3x6) and Joe Root (42, 37b, 4x4, 2x6) were at the crease, and then Chahal (4-0-25-6) wreaked havoc, picking up five wickets in two overs to trigger a collapse which saw England lose their last eight wickets for just eight runs. England folded for 127 in 16.3 overs.
"Losing two in batsmen, especially when we were going so well, that really hurt us," Morgan said at the post-match presentation. "Credit to Chahal for doing that.
"India put a match-winning performance today and a performance worthy of winning the series. Congratulations to them."
The win meant India won the T20 series 2-1, having won the ODI series as well with the same margin. Kohli's side beat England 4-0 in the five-match Test series.
"Coming back here after a while, it's been a long time since we played the IPL final here," Kohli, who plays at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, in the IPL for RCB said. "This was a match that demanded we play to our best. Even after losing all three tosses, we have won the series, similar to the Test series.
"I think the guys showed a lot of character, which is why we won the series."
India's innings was about Raina's early push and Dhoni's finish. While India gave Rishabh Pant an international debut, Kohli still opened the innings and it all went wrong for the captain when he was run out in just the second over of the match.
However, Raina came in, showed plenty of aggression, backed it up with runs and set the tone for the rest of the innings for India. Once Raina fell, Dhoni took over, scoring his first ever T20 international half-century in the process.
While 202 was a score that could have been overhauled, England completely lost the plot when Chahal dismissed Morgan and Root off successive balls, giving India a handsome win and the perfect end to a successful tour.
Watch the highlights of the brilliant match HERE
