BRISTOL, July 8: Rohit Sharma�s elegant unbeaten century made it a walk in the park for India as they cruised to a seven-wicket victory against England to clinch the three-match T20 International series 2-1 here today.
The Indian vice captain made a target of 199 look ridiculously easy on a small Bristol ground after the visiting bowlers did a commendable job at the back end to restrict the hosts to a sub-par score.
Captain Virat Kohli (43 off 29 balls) played his part with his authoritative strokeplay, while Hardik Pandya, who shone with the ball earlier with a four-wicket haul, also made a significant contribution with the bat. Pandya hit 33 not out off just 14 balls as India reached 201 for 3 in 18.4 overs.
The series win set the right tone for the gruelling challenges ahead with the three-match ODI series, up next, starting from July 12.
Rohit stroked his way to 100 not out, his third T20I hundred, with the help of 11 fours and five sixes, adding 89 runs for the third wicket with Kohli, who got his first score of note on the tour of the UK.
Virat�s 43 came from 29 balls and had two fours and two sixes.
SCORECARD
England: J Roy c Dhoni b Chahar 67, J Buttler b Kaul 34, A Hales c Dhoni b Pandya 30, E Morgan c Dhoni b Pandya 6, B Stokes c Kohli b Pandya 14, J Bairstow c Dhoni b Pandya 25, D Willey b Umesh 1, C Jordan run out 3, L Plunkett c Dhoni b Kaul 9, A Rashid not out 4. Extras: (lb-4, nb-1) 5. Total (For 9 wkts, 20 overs) 198. Fall of wickets: 1-94, 2-103, 3-134, 4-140, 5-177, 6-181, 7-183, 8-194, 9-198. Bowler: Chahar 4-0-43-1, Yadav 4-0-48-1, Kaul 4-0-35-2, Pandya 4-0-38-4, Chahal 4-0-30-0.
India: R Sharma not out 100, S Dhawan c Ball b Willey 5, KL Rahul c Jordan b Ball 19, V Kohli c & b Jordan 43, H Pandya not out 33. Extras: (w-1) 1. Total: (For 3 wkts, 18.4 Ov) 201. Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-62, 3-151. Bowlers: Willey 3-0-37-1, Ball 3-0-39-1, Jordan 3.4-0-40-1, Plunkett 3-0-42-0, Stokes 2-0-11-0, Rashid 4-0-32-0. � PTI
