3rd T20I: Topley Negates Suryakumar’s Brilliance As England Bag Consolation Win

England’s left-arm medium-pacer Reece Topley negated Suryakumar Yadav’s thunderous hundred as the hosts edged India by 17 runs in the 3rd T20I at Trent Bridge. The visitors had already sealed the three-match series after winning the first two matches.

England got off to a roaring start after opting to bat first as the captain Jos Buttler tonked a couple of boundaries and six before he was bowled by Avesh Khan for 18. After his dismissal, Dawid Malan hit his strides and started flaying the Indian bowlers. He began by slicing Harshal Patel over point for a boundary and also got a reprieve in the same over. Malan was outfoxed by Harshal’s slower delivery and returned a catch but the medium-pacer failed to grab it.

That dropped catch proved as Malan went on the rampage and started taking Indian spinners to the cleaners. He was particularly ruthless against Jadeja and smacked him for three sixes. The left-hander reached his fifty in the 13th over as he punched Umran Malik to deep covers for a couple of runs.

He eventually fell for 77, which came off just 39 balls, as he tried to slog-sweep leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi but got a top edge which was caught by the wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.

In the death overs, Liam Livingstone ran amok and walloped four sixes to catapult England to 215-7 in 20 overs. He remained unbeaten for 42.

Chasing 216, India lost their top three batsmen – Pant, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – for just 31. Topley nipped out Pant and Sharma, while Kohli fell to David Willey.

However, Suryakumar reeled off an incredible innings and kept India in the hunt. He and Shreyas Iyer added 119 runs for the 4th wicket as he did the bulk of the scoring. He scored most of his runs square on the leg-side as he kept blasting bowlers whenever they strayed on his pads. Suryakumar brought up his fifty off 32 balls in the 12th over and upped the ante after reaching the milestone. Out of 6 sixes he smote, three came of Livingstone.

But after Topley snapped the stand by dismissing Iyer, Suryakumar didn’t receive any support from other batsmen as wickets fell in a heap. He was finally prised out by the off-spinner Moeen Ali for 117 in the 19th over.

India managed 198-9 in their 20 overs and lost the match by 17 runs.