 "Had idea on how Archer would bowl: Yadav on hitting six off first delivery")
India's Suryakumar Yadav struck a magnificent six off the first delivery he faced in international cricket and said that experience of playing against Jofra Archer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) helped him know the pacer's gameplan.
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A blistering half-century from Suryakumar (57), followed by a brilliant performance from the bowlers, helped India win the fourth T20I of the ongoing five-match series against England here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday evening.
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With the eight-run win over England, India levelled the series 2-2 with the series decider to be played on Saturday at the same venue.
"First of all, I am feeling very good that we won the match. It was my dream to play for India and make the team win matches. I did not complicate things much and just tried to express myself. I knew if I managed to play the first two-three bowls as I do, then things will get easy," Suryakumar told Shardul Thakur in a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on its website.
"I have seen him (Archer) in IPL and international cricket that when a new batsman comes in, he tries to keep the batsman on the backfoot. I have now played against him in the IPL so, now I have an idea how he might bowl in the powerplay or at death. So, I was prepared beforehand and I have been playing this shot in local cricket, domestic cricket and even when I started playing cricket with rubber or tennis ball. So, this shot developed from there and now came to international cricket," he added.
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In the match, Stokes played a knock of 46 runs from just 23 balls. When Stokes was at the crease, it looked like England will chase down the target. However, Shardul brought the hosts back in the game as he scalped two crucial wickets of Stokes and Morgan on successive balls in the 16th over.
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Reflecting on the same, Shardul said: "When Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow were building a partnership, there was confusion as to who should bowl and there were a lot of discussions. When the spinners' spell came to an end, pacers came in and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled an over which was very good, and then I got a chance. When we got those two wickets, we felt that we can seal the game and we did. Two wickets from two balls was very good for the team."
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Shardul, who bowled the final over of the innings, also said Rohit Sharma wanted him to back his plans and try to execute them.
"The captain said that the leg-side is bigger and if we are bowling from the pavilion side then try to make them play shots on the bigger side (of the ground). Rohit Sharma was the stand-in captain and whenever he came to me, he only said one thing 'Shardul, back your plans and if you do quality bowling it will be difficult for them. They may play two big shots but they will miss one or two balls and will panic.' So, my plan was to bowl two to three dot balls. So, he was saying, whatever you have planned, try to execute that and do not judge yourself by the shots played by the batsman," he said.
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