India’s wheels spin again

pune: Spinner Ravi Bishnoi and concussion substitute Harshit Rana shone with the ball after Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya’s rescue act helped India defeat England by 15 runs in the fourth T20I to seal the series here on Friday.

With the win, India have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Invited to bat, India found themselves reeling at 12/3 in the second over, but Pandya and Dube stabilised the innings, guiding the hosts to 181/9.

“We didn’t want to go back after 12/3. Three wickets in one over was too much. The way Hardik and Dube showed their experience was great,” Suryakumar Yadav said after India’s 15-run win.

Bishnoi (3/28) and Rana (3/33) then shared six wickets between them after Varun Chakravarthy’s 2/28 to bowl out England for 166.

Highlighting India’s intent, the India skipper said: “This is one thing we’ve been talking about, expressing yourself and batting the same way as in the nets. I think we are moving in the right direction.”

Dube, however, was struck on the helmet in the final over and was substituted, paving the way for Rana’s unexpected yet dream T20I debut. “I knew we could control the game after the powerplay. We picked a few wickets. Post drinks, Rana came in as the third seamer and delivered,” Suryakumar said.

Rana seized the moment with a stellar three-wicket haul.

“It is still a dream debut for me. When Dube came back, after two overs I was informed I will be the concussion substitute,” Rana said.

England skipper Jos Buttler lamented his team’s missed opportunity after a strong start, admitting they failed to capitalise on the early breakthroughs.

“We started brilliantly, taking wickets in the powerplay and we were in a great position at the end of the batting powerplay,” he said.

Brief scores: India: 181/9 in 20 overs (Pandya 53, Dube 53; Mahmood 3/35); England:166 all out in 19.4 overs (Brook 51, Duckett 39; Bishnoi 3/28,

Rana 3/33).