AHMEDABAD: Jos Buttler hit a brilliant 83 as England beat India by eight wickets on Tuesday to take a 2-1 lead in their five-match Twenty20 series.
Virat Kohli’s 77-run blitz saw India to 156-6 at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad which was kept empty because of the rising number of coronavirus cases in India.
Buttler carried his bat through the innings, smashing four sixes and five fours, to guide England to 158 for two with 10 balls to spare. Jonny Bairstow made an unbeaten 40 to keep up the pace.
The fourth match of the series is on Thursday in Ahmedabad.
Eariler, Kohli plundered 77 runs off England’s pace attack as India reached 156 for six.
Mark Wood took three key wickets on his return to the England side but could not douse the Indian captain’s fireworks.
After a foot injury kept him out of the second match — which India won to level the series — Wood claimed openers Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul, as well as Shreyas Iyer, as India initially struggled to find runs.
Kohli was indomitable however, smashing four sixes and eight fours in his 46-ball bash at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kohli’s only regret may be the bizarre run out of Rishabh Pant, who had made 25 valuable runs from 20 balls.
Kohli had taken an easy two runs off Sam Curran but, while Pant seemed content to rest there, Kohli darted down for a third, leaving his partner flailing to reach safety.
Eoin Morgan won the toss on his 100th match as England’s T20 captain and put India in to bat.
England’s pace attack started well with Wood taking the openers and Chris Jordan claiming Ishan Kishan in a crucial three-over spell.
Indian authorities ordered the final three matches of the five-game series to be played behind closed doors because of rising coronavirus numbers in major cities.
