Table of Contents
In a thrilling encounter between India and England which went to the wire, the Virat Kohli-led side held their nerves and registered a sensational victory to level the five-match series 2-2 on Thursday.
The hosts needed 23 runs to defend with Shardul Thakur to ball the final over, and Jofra Archer almost took his side to win by hitting a four and a six. Thakur then bowled two wides to make it 10 off 3 balls. But, he held his cool and managed to seal the deal.
Jason Roy (40 off 27) and Ben Stokes (46 off 23 balls) shined with the bat but failed to take their side over the finish line.
Earlier, Surya Kumar Yadav made a half-century on his second T20I. Surya, who did not get to bat in his debut game, finished with 57 off 31 balls before being dismissed on a controversial call. He brought up his maiden fifty off just 28 balls.
Shreyas Iyer (37 off 18 balls) accelerated in the death overs to help India post 185/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
This is absolutely brilliant from India!
Lost the toss, so against heavy odds (read dew) they have won this. Bowlers deserve even more praise than some of the fantastic batting performances that came earlier. 👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏#INDvsENG_2021— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 18, 2021
India wins in an absolute thriller! Came down to the wire! The team chasing doesn’t win this match! Now we’ll go to a decider in two days! What a match this was! It had everything. So damn good! 🇮🇳🏴#INDvENG
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 18, 2021
OMG .. What a game #INDvENGt20 I enjoyed that. It was tense . 2 all now.Nice one guys
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) March 18, 2021
Very happy for @surya_14kumar just batting like he’s playing an ipl game ! In my World Cup squad for sure 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽 #IndiavsEngland
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) March 18, 2021
How to announce your arrival 101 👀
Ft. @surya_14kumar#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/uJToDDkyHe
— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2021
Fearless. Innovative. Aggressive. Thoroughly enjoyed @surya_14kumar first knock at the highest level. An innings of some serious quality. Hopefully first of many half centuries #IndvEng pic.twitter.com/2zVLQr5zWr
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) March 18, 2021
Great captaincy from Virat … !! Allowing @ImRo45 to get involved & clearly his tactics work … #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 18, 2021
As a bowler the main challenge with the dew isn't necessarily gripping the ball, because there are plenty of towels to dry it. Instead, it's the pitch having more moisture in it which makes the ball skid on, making batting easier and cutting the bowlers' margin for error.
— Tymal Mills (@tmills15) March 18, 2021
.@surya_14kumar 👏👏👏 Proud of you brother! 🤗💥 pic.twitter.com/o2ylH660Pz
— Krunal Pandya (@krunalpandya24) March 18, 2021
2/16 in four overs from Hardik in a chase of 186 and crucial overs with the new ball, brilliant effort from KungFu Pandya was a massive difference in today's game.
Well done India on levelling 5he series#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/KiqkMWmOt4— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 18, 2021
M.O.O.D!😎😀
An 8⃣-run win in the 4th @Paytm #INDvENG T20I & #TeamIndia level the series 2-2! 👏👏@Paytm #INDvENG
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/TYCBHIV89r pic.twitter.com/XGUimbNa6c
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 18, 2021
Congratulations @surya_14kumar for your first international 50. Many more to come.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 18, 2021
Surya ‘Namaskar’ ❤️❤️ @surya_14kumar #IndvsEng #IndvsEngT20
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) March 18, 2021
To take this England side to a series decider without Bumrah, Natarajan, Jadeja, and Shami. Very good effort thus far by the boys.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) March 18, 2021
Congratulations team India 👍@surya_14kumar 💪#ENGvIND #Cricket
— Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima) March 18, 2021
India beat England by 8 runs in the 4th T20 and level the series 2-2 with one match left in the series – India become the first team to defend the total in series – Excellent bowling performance to defend the total with lots of dew. pic.twitter.com/zhEj3RsPXe
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 18, 2021
Lord Shardul true promoter of cricket. May even make Americans forget baseball.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) March 18, 2021