NEWS
Follow UsFor the second time in as many matches, team India completed a thumping run-chase, this time around an emphatic nine-wicket hammering to level the five-match series 2-2. After being set a target of 179, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, in just their second match together as an opening pair, put on a mind-boggling 165 runs for the first wicket to rock the hosts and secure a convincing win.
In terms of sheer dominance, there are not many chases in India’s T20I history that better this one, yet in the aftermath of the thumping victory, it was the bowlers that skipper Hardik Pandya chose to credit.
Bowlers, Pandya said, are who win matches at the international level, and he re-asserted that it’s the responsibility of the batters to keep supporting them consistently.
“Going forward we have to take more responsibility as a batting group and support the bowlers. I've always believed bowlers win matches,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
The skipper, however, also reserved due praise for the sensational efforts of Gill and Jaiswal. On the day, the pair put on the joint second-highest partnership by an Indian pair in T20Is.
“Yashasvi and Shubman were brilliant. The way they ran in this heat and making sure they finished the job, it was very pleasing to see.
“As we've seen, there's no doubt in their skillset,” the skipper said of the pair.
Saturday’s victory meant that India had successfully made it 2-2, enforcing a decider, after going 0-2 down in the series on the back of two close defeats. Pandya said that, after the second game, the team had spoken about the need to show character, and insisted by winning two matches emphatically, his side have done just that.
“Yes we lost two games but in the first game it was our own errors. We were cruising and in the last four overs we slipped. We spoke about how these kind of games show our character and the boys took it in their stride.
“The two games we played reflected that we pull up our socks and we make sure to play some good cricket.”
Having won two on the bounce, India will have all the momentum in the world heading into the decider on Sunday, but the Indian skipper asserted that his team cannot afford to take anything for granted, and will once again have to be at their very best to pocket the series.
“In T20 cricket no one's favourites. You have to turn up and play good cricket. You have to respect the opposition. They were 2-0 up because they played better cricket than us. Tomorrow we have to turn up and do exactly what we did today."
