Twitter Reactions: Jos Buttler overshadows Virat Kohli as England dominates India

England, on Tuesday, thrashed India by eight wickets in the third T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Chasing 157, the visitors crossed the finishing line in the 19th over. Opening batsman Jos Buttler starred with the bat for the tourists, scoring an unbeaten 83 to lead the charge during the chase.

India got the early breakthrough with the ball when Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed in-form Jason Roy for 9 in the fourth over. However, the hosts could not capitalize on the early success as Buttler and Dawid Malan put England in the driver’s seat with a 58-run stand. Buttler was the aggressor during the stand while Malan played the role of the second fiddle.

The England wicketkeeper reached his fifty off just 26 balls in the ninth over. In the very next over, Washington Sundar dismissed Malan for 18 to give India the much-needed breakthrough. But England easily managed to recover after a fall of wicket once again with Buttler and Jonny Bairstow (40*) sharing an unbeaten 77-run stand to take their team home with ease.

Virat Kohli’s fifty takes India to a competitive total

Earlier in the game, skipper Virat Kohli led from the front and scored a stunning fifty to guide India to a challenging total. Asked to bat first, India were off to a disastrous start as they lost three wickets inside the powerplay. Mark Wood gave England the first breakthrough in the very first over by castling KL Rahul for a duck.

Rohit Sharma was the next to depart when he miscued a short ball from Wood. The senior opener, who was rested for the first two games, scored 15 off 17 balls. Chris Jordan then sent back Ishan Kishan for just 4 to reduce India to 24 for 3 in the sixth over. Kohli and Rishabh Pant stopped the rot but before they could lay the foundation for a big total, the latter was run-out for 25.

Shreyas Iyer (9) could not do much with the bat either as India lost another wicket before reaching the 100-run mark. The England bowlers kept things tight from their end and did not allow the run rate to go above six until the 15th over. In the last five overs, Kohli went berserk as he took the English bowlers to the cleaners to power India to a competitive total.

India scored 69 runs in the final 5 overs to finish on 156 for 6. Kohli finished his innings on 77 off 46 balls with the help of eight fours and four sixes. After managing just 28 runs in the first 29 balls, Kohli scored 49 runs off the next 17 balls he faced. Hardik Pandya also hit two sixes during his knock of 17 runs. For England, Wood picked up three wickets while Jordan accounted for two.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match: