The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
England ‘not at races’ in T20 series decider
Eoin Morgan admits England were “not at the races” in their spectacular collapse of eight wickets for eight runs to lose the Twenty20 International series decider heavily against India in Bengaluru yesterday.
The tourists were promisingly placed on 119 for two in the 14th over as they chased 202 for six.
But they then lost their next three wickets without addition – including both set batsmen Eoin Morgan and Joe Root – and their last four as well with the score stuck on 127 to be bowled out in 16.3 overs as Yuzvinder Chahal recorded only the third six-wicket haul in the history of Twenty20 international cricket.
England therefore ended their tour on a dispiriting note, having already lost the Test series 4-0 under Alastair Cook before Christmas and then the one-day internationals 2-1 when they returned to India last month.
Morgan and Root fell to Chahal in successive balls after their stand of 64, and the leg-spinner went on to take six for 25, figures bettered only by Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis in this format.
Morgan said at the post-match ceremony on Sky Sports: “It was a fatal error really, losing two ‘in’ batsmen in one over, especially when we were going so well.
“It really, really hurt us. Then for Chahal to produce that spell of bowling, you’ve got to give credit where it’s due.
“India put in a performance worthy of winning the series.”
England’s collapse is the secondworst in any international format behind New Zealand’s loss of eight Test wickets for five runs against Australia 70 years ago.
Morgan added: “In the backend of the 10 overs we batted, we weren’t really at the races.”
India’s total was underpinned by Suresh Raina (63) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56).