Harshit Rana has claimed three wickets in his debatable appearance as a concussion substitute to help India to a series-clinching, 15-run victory against England in the fourth T20 International.
India overcame Saqib Mahmood’s three-wicket burst on Friday to post a competitive 181-9 after half-centuries by Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.
India took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series with a 166 all-out innings lead with two deliveries remaining.
A Jamie Overton bouncer hit Dube on the helmet, forcing a seamer Rana to take his place despite the requirement for a like-for-like replacement in light of concussion substitute rules.
“When Dube came back two overs into the chase, I was told]about being the concussion substitute]”, Rana told broadcasters. “I have been waiting for this moment to prove myself”, he said of his “dream debut”.
England captain Jos Buttler was less impressed, however.
“It’s not a like-for-like replacement. We don’t agree with that”, Buttler told reporters after the game. “Dube has either put on 25 miles per hour]40 kilometres per hour] with the ball or Harshit Rana has really improved his batting.
” I still think we should have gone on to win the match, but we disagree with the decision. “
At the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, England’s fast bowler Saqib impressed on his debut with a three-wicket maiden over to thwart India.
Sanju Samson, the opener for India, missed his pull shot, Tilak Varma, who was third in the series, died in the deep third leg, and Suryakumar Yadav, the series captain, was caught short mid-on, prolonging his lean period.
Before the left-right duo of Dube and Pandya counterattacked during their 87-run partnership, Rinku Singh (30) and Abhishek Sharma (29) propped up India.
Pandya and Dube both managed identical 53s, but India only managed three runs and three wickets from Overton’s heroic final over.
Phil Salt (23) and Ben Duckett (39) milked 32 runs from the first three overs of India’s seam bowling, prompting Suryakumar to employ spin from both ends.
Thanks to their unbridled aggression, England were 62-1 after the first six powerplay overs compared with India’s 47-3.
In his subsequent overs, Ravi Bishnoi sent India back through spin, while Axar Patel sent Salt back.
Harry Brook (51) hit Rana for back-to-back sixes en route to a 25-ball fifty, but Varun Chakravarthy turned the match on its head, claiming two wickets in his final over.
As India tightened their grip on the game, Brook fell while attempting a scoop shot against the spinner, and two balls later, Brydon Carse was hit at a deep square leg.
Source: Aljazeera
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