Captain Kohli’s imperious 77* in vain as Jos Buttler’s 83* trumps India

Not every day does a team lose 3 wickets in the powerplay for 24, and yet manage to put on a fighting total. It happened. Not every day will a master of his art like Yuzvendra Chahal find it hard to out-think the batsman who is consistently getting the better of him. Yet it happened. On an evening where a series of unexpected events strung together to make a one-sided game, a Captain Kohli special was a soothing normal, although it fell well short of helping India to a winning total in retrospect.

When he walked in to bat with wickets falling all around him, the Indian top-order finding it hard to lay bat on the ball, the English pacemen zipping the ball through consistently at 90 miles an hour, a gentle tap by Captain Kohli that raced through the covers was an indication of things to come. A couple of cover drives hit the fielders, but the timing on them was ominous. He started off trying to not let the opposition-run riot - a mini partnership with Rishabh Pant ensured that India would not be shot out of the game within the first hour. And then out came the imperious swagger. 

The ball was now finding only gaps in the outfield. The flick of the wrists, the incredible whip, they all made an appearance. A hoick that landed between mid-wicket and long-on brought up his half-century. And then out came the pull shot against a 150 KPH ball that could’ve seriously injured anyone sitting in the front row had the stadium not been empty. A classy, nonchalant off drive over the fielder at mid-off was enough to indicate that the man is back to his absolute best.

At the end of the 15th over, Virat Kohli was batting on 28 off 29. India were 5 down for a modest 87. In the next 5, Team India scored 69, Captain Kohli claiming 49 of those off just 17 balls.

Alas, as the evening progressed, as has been the pattern over the three games, the team chasing found it easier to score runs. While Chahal got the better of Jason Roy, it was the Jos Buttler show which even the Haryana leggie couldn’t pull the curtains on. An attacking, 52-ball 83 from the Englishman was enough to carry the visitors to an 8-wicket win with 10 balls to spare. For Team India, the bowling of Washington Sundar who has shown versatility in a different role, bowling in the middle overs in the series will be a huge positive. 4 overs for just 26 runs and a wicket on an evening where the England batsmen were batting like they had a curfew time to go home to, was an exceptional effort.