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England’s explosive batsman Jos Buttler exhibited his ‘A-Game’ in the third T20I of the five-match series against India at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Buttler took Indian bowlers to the cleaners and smashed them right from the word go. His attacking performance with the willow powered England to crush India by 8 wickets and take a 2-1 lead in the series.
The wicketkeeper-batsman scored unbeaten 83 runs from just 52 deliveries at an impressive strike-rate of 159.62. Buttler slammed nine boundaries, including four gigantic sixes and took his side over the finish line in 18.2 overs.
Apart from Buttler, Jonny Bairstow also remained not out after he smashed 40 from 28 balls with the help of five boundaries.
Earlier, Indian captain Virat Kohli continued from where he left in the second T20I, which the hosts had won by seven wickets.
Kohli was the lone warrior in the Indian innings on Tuesday night as he smashed unbeaten 77 runs from 46 deliveries to take ‘Men in Blue’ to a competitive total. Except for the Delhi-lad, India’s top-order didn’t contribute enough.
Rohit Sharma scored 15 runs, while Ishan Kishan added only 4 runs. Indian opener KL Rahul continued his bad patch and went back for another duck in the series.
After Kohli, Rishabh Pant was the second top-scorer for the home team. He made 25 off 20 balls before getting run-out.
Fast bowler Mark Wood was the pick of the bowler for the visiting side. He bagged three wickets for 31 in his quota of 4 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Win the Toss & win the game? Or are the Toss winners just consistently playing better? #ENGvIND
Match 1 England toss win ✅
Match 2 India toss win ✅
Match 3 England toss win ✅— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) March 16, 2021
So it looks like the T20 World Cup in India could be won by the best Tosser !!!! #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 16, 2021
Overs 1-6
India: 24 for 3 (4 RPO)
England: 57 for 1 (9.5 RPO)Overs 7-20
India: 132 for 3 (9.4 RPO)
England: 101 for 1 (12.2 overs/8.2 RPO)— Matt Roller (@mroller98) March 16, 2021
England seal a very good victory against India and go 2-1 up in the series. Two high-class innings from Buttler and Kohli but England's bowling and fielding better than India's #INDvENG
— Rob Johnston (@RobJ_Cricket) March 16, 2021
Excellent win, @englandcricket. Some great performances with both bat and ball. 👏👏👏#INDvENG
— Ian Bell (@Ian_Bell) March 16, 2021
Wonderful innings from both Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow opening and at number 4 – swap them around and both could have played the same innings, such is their versatility
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) March 16, 2021
8 – Virat Kohli has dropped 8 catches in men's T20Is since the start of 2019, the most recorded by any fielder from a Test-playing nation. Repeat. #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/zg1Oksm7xb
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) March 16, 2021
What a win!🙌🙌🙌
Huge congrats to Captain Fantastic @Eoin16 on 💯 IT20 appearances 👏👏 #OneMiddlesex https://t.co/OijtThDM2X
— Middlesex Cricket (@Middlesex_CCC) March 16, 2021
Should have imposed night curfew after the first innings and stopped the match. At least we would have slept happily. #INDvENG
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) March 16, 2021
Was worth staying awake and seeing Kohli’s innings! And the game could’ve gone either way after the first innings. England wins by 8 wickets. Series is 2-1. Two matches to go: it’s still anyone’s. Sit tight. 4:04AM here. Sleep is coming. Good night/shubh ratri ♥️🇮🇳🏴#INDvENG
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 16, 2021
Well played England. Clinical performance. Got quick wickets & pegged India back considerably. Buttler & Bairstow were brilliant in the run-chase. Only 5 bowlers is a tad too risky for India.
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) March 16, 2021
Jos putting 🏴 in the driver's seat with a 26-ball half-century 😍
That's his 11th T20I fifty and 2nd vs 🇮🇳#INDvENG 🌹 #RedRoseTogether pic.twitter.com/SZcvdDvljg
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) March 16, 2021
Pace is a double edged sword in #T20 cricket #Fact #INDvsENG 🏏
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) March 16, 2021
Virat Kohli wears Jos Buttler pyjamas. #bbccricket #INDvENG
— Jonny Wilson (@jonnypwilson) March 16, 2021
England have maintained their intent as this innings has progressed, lifting their attacking shot percentage from 43% in the Powerplay to 46% since the seventh over. #IndvEng
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) March 16, 2021
Oooo Mark Wood… that’s tasty.
— 🗡️Charles Dagnall 🗡️ (@CharlesDagnall) March 16, 2021
That was special from Kohli. 49 of his last 17 balls.
Garza Garza Sher Garza#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/RwwhRY3lrA— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 16, 2021
Every time Mark Wood bowls it’s like someone’s told him he has just one delivery to save the world.
Just brilliant to watch.#bbccricket
— Henry Moeran (@henrymoeranBBC) March 16, 2021
Master class from @imVkohli 👌👌 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/zOHNL8ngzj
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) March 16, 2021
Genius @imVkohli !! Of all the great players he is the most pleasing on the eye … #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 16, 2021
Jos Buttler ruled the run-chase – scored unbeaten 83 runs from 52 balls including 5 fours and 4 sixes helped England to chase down 157 runs with 10 balls and 8 wickets left to take a lead of 2-1 in the five match series. #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/up3fq6ZF2X
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 16, 2021
Stunning back to back 4s by Bairstow. Sound engineer ka Indian bahar aa gaya, did not add fake crowd cheers. #INDvENG
— cricBC (@cricBC) March 16, 2021