Jos Buttler played a starring role as his 83 not out saw England reclaim the advantage in their T20 series in India with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory on Tuesday.
England are on the brink of a first T20 series victory over India, now leading 2-1 with two matches to play.
In a match played behind closed doors at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium due to coronavirus restrictions, the tourists limited India to 156-6 despite a fantastic unbeaten 77 from captain Virat Kohli.
But England had few issues reaching their target, Buttler and Jonny Bairstow (40 not out) finishing things off to move within one win of a series victory. The two sides do battle again at the same venue on Thursday.
After an impressive India run chase to win the second match, England opted to bowl first when they won the toss and chasing once again proved to be the successful strategy.
Jofra Archer (0-32) dropped a return catch offered by Rohit Sharma (15) with his first ball bowled but Mark Wood - the fast bowler in electrifying form to claim 3-31 - bowled KL Rahul for his second straight duck. The opener has one run in his past four T20I innings.
India did not get a boundary until the 21st ball and even then it was a fortuitous inside edge for Rohit.
He soon followed Rahul to the dressing room when Wood struck again in the fifth over, before Chris Jordan (2-35) had Ishan Kishan – man of the match on his debut last time out – caught behind for just nine.
Kohli and Rishabh Pant (25) slowly steadied the ship until the latter was run out and India looked out of contention at 87-5 with five overs to spare.
But Kohli starred to ensure his team at least had a score to defend by the time Hardik Pandya (15) was out from the last ball of the innings.
Jason Roy (9) and Dawid Malan (18) did not get going for England but Buttler was in control of the run chase, his 52-ball knock containing four maximums.
Buttler and Bairstow put on 77 together as England coasted to their target with 10 balls to spare.
Kohli spectacular again
India skipper Kohli scored 73 not out in the second match and he was even better here in another unbeaten innings.
He scored 77 runs from 46 balls with 12 boundaries - eight fours and four sixes.
The hosts scored 69 runs in the final five overs, an astonishing 49 of them going to Kohli in just 17 balls. Only Yuvraj Singh (58) has ever scored more in the last five overs of a T20I for India.
The only negative note for Kohli individually was when he dropped Buttler at point, but by then the result was beyond doubt.
100 up for Morgan
Eoin Morgan became the first England player and just the fourth cricketer to reach 100 T20I appearances.
It was fitting that England won to mark the occasion, though Morgan himself had one of his quieter games having not been required to bat.
The explosive England captain has 113 career sixes, a stat that puts him third overall and only behind Martin Guptill and Rohit in the shortest format.
Wood and Mayers heroics lead Super Giants to victory over Capitals
Kyle Mayers and Mark Wood got their Indian Premier League campaigns off to brilliant starts as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by 50 runs.
The Super Giants boasted the best performers with both bat and ball, as Mayers' 73 from 38 deliveries and Wood's 5-14 led them to a comfortable win on Saturday.
Lucknow's hopes were hit when key man and captain KL Rahul dismissed for 19 in the fourth over, and his replacement Mayers was hugely fortunate not to be sent packing on 14 when he was dropped by Khaleel Ahmed.
Mayers took advantage of that reprieve, plundering 59 more runs before finally succumbing to a peach of a delivery from Axar Patel that clipped the top of off stump.
Though that wicket slowed Lucknow's progress, they smashed 62 off the final four overs.
Delhi's chase got off to a fantastic start, racing to 33 for no loss off the first three overs, but a magnificent spell from Wood saw him dismiss Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Sarfaraz Khan to halt the Capitals' momentum.
Avesh Khan landed the hammer blow when he removed David Warner (56) with the Capital's captain caught by Krishnappa Gowtham.
Warner's men would tack on just 30 more runs, falling 50 short of the winning total as Wood sealed his five-for with the penultimate ball of the innings.
Mayers punishes Khaleel drop
The game could have been very different had Khaleel held on after Mayers tried to slog a slower ball from Chetan Sakariya.
Instead, the ball agonisingly hit the turf and Mayers went on to register two fours and seven maximums on his IPL debut, reaching his half-century after just 28 balls to truly exploit Khaleel's mistake.
Lightning quick pace from Wood halts Capitals' chase
A sublime couple of overs from Wood completely altered the momentum in Delhi's chase and put his team back in the ascendancy.
Wood's first game for Lucknow saw him earn player of the match honours.
Windwards Volcanoes beat Barbados Pride by 121 runs at Queen’s Park Oval
The Windward Islands Volcanoes completed a dominant 121-run win over the Barbados Pride on day four of their final round fixture at the Queen’s Park Oval on Saturday.
The Pride started the day 28-3 off 17 overs with Jonathan Drakes and Chaim Holder at the crease on nine and zero, respectively.
Drakes eventually went on to make a top score of 35 while Holder made nine and Kevin Wickham 11 as the Pride found themselves quickly on the back foot at 89-6 off 37.3 overs.
In the end, Kenneth Dember led the way with 5-26 off 13 overs as the Pride were dismissed for 114 in 47 overs.
Larry Edward finished with nine wickets in the match after taking 3-38 off 17 overs.
Sinclair takes 6-33 as Harpy Eagles produce spectacular final day comeback to defeat Hurricanes by 17 runs at Providence and secure West Indies Championship title
The Guyana Harpy Eagles find themselves at the pinnacle of regional first-class cricket once again after completing a stunning comeback on the final day of their final round fixture against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Providence to secure their sixth hold on the West Indies Championship title in eight years.
The Hurricanes entered day four in the driver’s seat, being 81-1 needing just 62 more runs for victory with nine wickets in the shed. Kieran Powell and Keacy Carty were the batsmen at the crease on 47 and 17, respectively.
The Leewards lost their first wicket of day four when Kevin Sinclair removed Carty for 21 before trapping Devon Thomas in front for a duck two balls later.
The Hurricanes then went on to lose their final seven wickets for just 17 runs as the Harpy Eagles completed a spectacular final day comeback.
Their efforts were led by Kevin Sinclair’s career-best figures of 6-33 off 16.5 overs while Veerasammy Permaul took 3-44 from his 15 overs.
The Harpy Eagles ended the campaign with 84 points, 9.8 points ahead of the Windward Islands Volcanoes in second.
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