India defeats England by seven wickets in the third Twenty-20 to bag series by 2-1

Bristol, July 9: India on Sunday defeated England by seven wickets in the third and final Twenty-20 International at Bristol to bag the series by 2-1. Rohit Sharma's elegant unbeaten century and Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance led the Indian team to achieve a mammoth target of 199 runs in just 18.4 overs with remaining 7 wickets in hand.

 

Put in to bat, England posted a mammoth 198 for 9, with opener Jason Roy top scoring with 67. Jos Buttler, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow also made valuable contributions. In reply, opener Rohit Sharma amassed his third T-20 ton as Team India overhauled the target with 8 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand. Rohit made an unbeaten 100 off just 56 balls, comprising 11 fours and 5 sixes.

He was ably supported by skipper Virat Kohli, who scored a 29-ball 43. Hardik Pandya also played an end-of-innings cameo by hitting 33 off just 14 balls. Rohit was adjudged man of the match as well as player of the series. The victory was India's sixth consecutive T-20 series win.

During the game, MS Dhoni got his name registered in the history books becoming the first wicket-keeper to take 50 catches in T20s and also the first keeper to take 5 catches in a single T20 match. India and England will now play a 3-match ODI series beginning at Nottingham on Thursday. The ODIs will be followed by 5 Test matches.