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England opt to bowl in fourth T20 against India
AHMEDABAD, India, March 18, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl in their bid to seal the series against India in the fourth Twenty20 International on Thursday.
The tourists, who lead the five-match series 2-1, were unchanged from their previous victory at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
All three games have been won by the team chasing a target and Morgan said the first 10 overs will be key for both sides.
“The challenge of setting a total is always unnerving depending on how you start,” Morgan said at the toss.
“Then there’s the dew element, that adds to the stress of setting a total. I also think both sides have bowled better in the first innings.”
India made two changes to their team with batsman Suryakumar Yadav and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar coming in for Ishan Kishan, who has a groin strain, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Captain Virat Kohli said India were looking to challenge themselves while batting first in the must-win game.
“Tougher to set a total when you don’t know how the pitch will play out, but this pitch looks the best of the series,” he said.
“I think (in the) last game, our body language wasn’t up to the mark and we discussed that in the team meeting.”
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar
England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Umpires: KN Ananthapadmanabhan (IND), Nitin Menon (IND)
TV umpire: Virender Sharma (IND)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)
BSS/AFP/MMA/2033HRS