Beat England to take an unassailable 3-1 lead

India after having secured an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five match T20I series against England, following their hard fought 15 runs win on Friday night at Pune would aim to end on a high when they host the visitors at the iconic Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday 2nd February, 2025.

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav despite his rare failure with the bat in the series (having scored mere 26 runs in four innings) will hope for yet another all-round display by his team in addition to making good in familiar surroundings.

The Wankhede pitch has always been a surface that supports the batters and witnesses big scores on account of its short boundaries. The bowlers on the other hand would like to capatlise on good bounce in terms of limiting the big hitters in the middle as well in the final T20I encounter.

Earlier in the fourth match of the T20I a  spirited all-round performance saw Shivam Dube (53 off 34) and Hardik Pandya (53 off 30) propelled India to 181/9, despite an early top-order and collapses which saw the host being reduced to 12 for 3 and then 79 for 5 respectively including the key wicket of Suryakumar for a duck . Saqib Mahmood (3/35) and Jamie Overton (2/32) were England’s standout bowlers.

In response, Ben Duckett (39 off 19) and Harry Brook (51 off 26) kept England in the chase, but India’s spinners stepped up at crucial moments. Leg spinners Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/28) troubled the batters, while debutant pacer Harshit Rana, brought in as a concussion substitute for Dube who was hit on the helmet by England pacer Jamie Overton in the penultimate ball of the Indian innings, and later the all-rounder was run out on the final delivery of the innings. Rana (3/33) made an immediate impact with 3/33, dismissing Livingstone, Bethell, and Overton.

Despite late efforts from Overton (19) and Rashid (10 not out), England fell short, getting bowled out for 166 in 19.4 overs. Rana’s dream debut added to the memorable night for India, marking a fitting end.  Shivam Dube was named the Player of the Match

Jos Buttler, England Captain, post the match said, “We started brilliantly, taking wickets early and then capitalizing in the batting powerplay. We were in a great position and should have closed out the game. It’s disappointing—we did a lot of good things, but key moments cost us. I dropped Dube on his first ball, and he went on to play a brilliant knock. With the bat, we were in control (62 for 1 in six and 129 for 4 in 14.2 overs) but lost wickets too quickly. We need to stay committed to our aggressive approach—if we back ourselves more, we’ll win plenty of games."

Suryakumar Yadav, India Captain who made up for his failure with his astute leadership and taking two crucial catches including that of opener Buckett off Bishnoi in the final ball of the powerplay said, “A fantastic effort from everyone in the field. The crowd was incredible, backing us from start to finish—it wouldn’t have been possible without them. Losing three wickets early wasn’t ideal, but the boys knew the cricket we wanted to play. The way Hardik and Dube batted was outstanding. We’ve been encouraging players to express themselves and bat as they do in the nets, and I’m pleased we’re heading in the right direction. After the powerplay, I felt we could control the game between overs 7-10. Post the drinks break, Dube couldn’t return, and Harshit Rana stepped in as a third seamer—he delivered brilliantly for us."

Photo Cover: Concussion substitute Harshit Rana had a dream debut and took key wickets of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton (Photos courtesy BCCI)

Photo Above: Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube mid-innings blows that saw them score 53 each ensured India a fighting total of 181.