Skipper Virat Kohli's decision to promote himself as an opener worked wonders in the fifth and final T20I against England as India posted a total of 224/2 in the allotted twenty overs on Saturday here at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Kohli played a knock of 80 runs while Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav played knocks of 64 and 32 respectively as the hosts posted a mammoth total on the board. However, the telling blow, in the end, came from Hardik Pandya as the swashbuckling all-rounder played an innings of 39 runs off just 17 balls.
Put in to bat first, India got off to their best start in this series as openers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli put on 60 runs inside the first six overs. Both batsmen accumulated boundaries and the hosts were looking set for a big score. Rohit continued with his carnage and as a result, he brought up his half-century in the eighth over of the innings.
In trying to further accelerate the innings, Rohit (64) ended up getting an inside edge and the ball went to the stumps and as a result, he was dismissed by Ben Stokes. Suryakumar Yadav came into bat at number three and he made his intentions known from the very start as he dispatched his second and third balls for a maximum off the bowling of Adil Rashid.
Suryakumar Yadav (32) was in full destruction mode, but Chris Jordon pulled off an effort for the ages at the boundary rope as he helped in sending the right-handed batsman back to the pavilion. In the final four overs, Pandya and Kohli went berserk and the hosts ended up with a total of more than the 220-run mark.
Brief Scores: India 224/2 (Virat Kohli 80*, Rohit Sharma 64, Ben Stokes 1-26) vs England.
( With inputs from ANI )
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