India defeated England by 36 runs in the series decider to and seal a 3-2 win in the five-match series at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. The win extends India’s unbeaten streak in T20I series to eight, with the last defeat for Virat Kohli’s men in a T20 series coming back in February 2019 against Australia. 

Here are the five turning points of the match:

1. Virat Kohli promoting himself to open

India ended their top-order woes in emphatic fashion, with the misfiring KL Rahul being dropped from the squad and Kohli promoting himself up the order to the open along with Rohit Sharma. 

The duo gave the perfect start to the hosts, scoring 94 runs in 8.5 overs to set the platform for India’s mammoth total. That was India’s best start of the series and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  

2. Chris Jordan’s stunning fielding to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav

Chris Jordan came up with a stunning fielding effort to put an end to Suryakumar’s marauding innings. The Mumbai Indians batsman maintained India’s momentum after Rohit’s dismissal, scoring 34 runs in 16 deliveries. 

And he looked set to add six runs on his 17th, lofting an Adil Rashid delivery towards the cow corner. However, Jordan came sprinting in from long-on, took a blinder of a one-handed catch and lobbed the ball over for Jason Roy to complete the catch.

The moment had potential to derail India’s innings and shift the momentum of the clash back in England’s favour. However, Kohli’s onslaught and Hardik Pandya’s 17-ball, 39-run cameo ensured otherwise. 

3. Virat Kohli’s innings 

Virat Kohli registered his highest score as an opener in T20Is, scoring an unbeaten 80 from 52 balls to help India register their highest score against England in the shortest format.

The Indian skipper struck seven boundaries and two sixes, en route to his 27th T20I fifty and the third of the series. But the greatest part about the innings was that it came despite Kohli being in pain from a minor injury suffered during the fourth T20I on Thursday. 

Kohli even went off the field in the initial and closing stages of England’s innings to nurse his injury. 

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4. Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler 

Chasing an imposing total, England got off to the worst-possible start, as opener Jason Roy was bowled on the second delivery of the innings by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

However, Dawid Malan (68) and Jos Buttler (52) added 130 runs for the second wicket in just 12.2 overs to put England in a commanding position and almost setting up the win. 

But a flurry of wickets since, and with no other meaningful contributions from the other batsmen, their efforts went in vain

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5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back to his swinging best today, setting the tone for India’s win with a peach of a delivery to get rid of Jason Roy off just the second delivery of the innings. 

He then crucially broke the 130-run partnership between Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler in what was perhaps the most decisive moment of the match. 

But the best part about his spell? Conceding just 15 runs from four overs on a high-scoring, batting friendly pitch. Priceless from the man-of-the-match.