IND vs ENG: 5th T20I, Match Prediction- Who will win today’s match?

With the series tied, both India and England will be up to put their A-game on Sunday.

Published - 19 Mar 2021, 17:53 IST | Updated - 19 Mar 2021, 17:53 IST

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Suryakumar Yadav’s maiden innings with the bat, a 31-ball 57, alongside some admirable efforts by pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur towards the death overs led India to bring the series at a level once again, through a close and hard-fought 8-run victory in the fourth T20I.

After the England skipper won the toss again and inserted India to bat, the home side managed to put a better display with the bat as compared to their recent performances. Rohit Sharma started India’s innings with a six, clarifying the intentions with which he stepped out, although neither he nor KL Rahul was able to make use of the advantage of a brisk start, falling quickly after making a start.

Virat Kohli, foxed by Adil Rashid’s googly, failed to make a connection as he stepped out and gave an easy stumping chance to Buttler behind, as India seemed in a slight spot of concern once again. While the Indian top-order struggled to make things merry, Suryakumar Yadav made batting look the simplest task in the world as he took on both pacers and spinners with equal aggression.

He slammed three fours and two sixes, adding a brisk 40 runs with Rishabh Pant before a controversial decision led to his undoing. Despite his exit, India’s momentum was kept on track by Shreyas Iyer, who got involved in crucial stands with Pant and Hardik Pandya to fire India past 180.

In response, England made a sedate start, playing out a maiden over upfront. Although, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler pressed the accelerator in the third over, and mauled Washington Sundar in the last over of the Powerplay to put England on the road of the chase. India clawed their way back into the game by tapping the scoring and claiming two quick wickets, those of Malan and Roy, close to the half-way mark, however, a 65-run stand between Bairstow and Stokes sent some shivers in the hosts’ camp.

With England looking within a touching distance of the target, Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, and Hardik Pandya launched a barrage of cutters and slower deliveries that stuck on the tacky Ahmedabad surface, making life difficult for the England batsmen. A momentum-changing double-wicket 17th over from Shardul Thakur broke England’s back, although, in another swing of momentum, Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan joined hands to give India a scare.

Down to 23 needed from the last over after an utterly disciplined effort from Kumar in the penultimate over, which cost only 10, Shardul Thakur held his nerves after erring towards the start of the 20th to restrict England 8 short of the target. With the series tied, both the teams will be up to put their A-game on Saturday.

Pitch and conditions

The same track that was used for the first game was used in the previous game. By far the flattest and most conducive for batting, the surface recorded over 360 runs in 240 balls with the pacers varying pace getting the rewards. There was ample turn for the taking, and while Washington Sundar had an off day, both Adil Rashid and Rahul Chahar returned with decent performances. Expect another track with elements of spin and help for the batsmen in the hot and humid conditions of Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Playing Combinations for IND vs ENG

India

Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul/Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar

Bench: Shikhar Dhawan, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Tewatia, Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan, Rahul Chahar

England

Predicted XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (WK), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran/Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Bench: Sam Billings, Reece Topley, Sam Curran/Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone

Probable Top Performers of IND vs ENG

Virat Kohli (India)

After recording two consecutive ducks in the last Test and the first T20I, Virat Kohli came back into his elements with two sensational Kohli-Esque knocks, one of which proved instrumental in India’s win. Though he missed out in the previous game as he tried to attack Adil Rashid and misread a googly to be stumped subsequently, expect him to get back into the zone with the series on the line.

Ben Stokes (England)

Ben Stokes was the star for England in the previous fixture and he was deadly enough during the chase to keep India’s heartbeats soaring. With the ball, he claimed the wicket of KL Rahul, plucked out a one-handed blinder at mid-off to bring Hardik Pandya’s innings to a close in the field, and followed that up with a 23-ball 46, which had seemingly put England on track of hunting down the target.