England needed 49 off 24 balls while chasing 191 with four wickets in hand when Bishnoi, bowled successive no balls that Jacob Bethell smashed for sixes off the ensuing free hits.
“I know where it all went away but I don’t want to pinpoint any particular player. After 15th (16th) over, momentum went away,” Iyer, who is yet to win a single game as India skipper, said at the post-match presentation.
When he was asked about Bishnoi’s no-ball problems, he predictably defended the under-fire bowler.
“I think he’ll come back stronger. The game got away in the 17th over… he’ll have to learn. It was a phenomenal score on this track; Tilak’s phenomenal 24 not out in the final over. But we have to give credit where its due, watching Bethell, he definitely took on the bowlers,” Iyer said.
The skipper was all praise for 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who made his debut as the youngest India international.
“I think he’s got that unflinching attitude… It’s just sensational to watch. I wasn’t anticipating him to be nervous as he has played sensational cricket during last couple of months and years. He definitely stepped up to the occasion, pleasing to the eye.”
England skipper Harry Brook was confident that the team will get the runs as it knew that one side of the boundary was really short and one could hit into the wind.
“With the wind and dimensions of the ground, we knew we could chase it. We were happy where we were after the PowerPlay. The way Bethell played was phenomenal.”
Brook himself took 27 off Arshdeep Singh to set the tone.
“I think you’ve got to try and maximise the PowerPlay as well as you can. All our batters have shown innovation; can hit all around the ground.”
He couldn’t stop praising Bethell for his unbeaten 76 off 46 balls.
“He’s an awesome talent out there, rallies the troops well in the field. He’s so mature for his age. He’s got a long career ahead of him.”
Bethell, on his part, gave credit to his skipper for the first assault.
“It worked out well in the end. Just going into bat, two down, Brooky set the momentum, made it easy for me. Everyone just kept chipping in. In those kinds of chases, you don’t go rapid the whole time. Two big overs and the game swings.”
On the Bishnoi over, Bethell said that he was lucky although he hit towards the longer boundary end.
“If I’m honest, I would have targetted the other end, my leg side with the wind, but you know, free hits, bowler’s down, and you take it on. The thing with playing on different dimensions is one side might be easier to hit sixes, but you can also score runs hitting it into the bigger gaps. We were good with that as a team.”
Published on Jul 05, 2026
Discover more from News Link360
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
