Watch: Shubman Gill hit Shoaib Bashir for two sixes in the space of three balls to bring up a crucial match-winning fifty in the second innings at Ranchi today (February 26) as India clinched the series 3-1 with one game to go against England.
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India needed 192 to win the series on a tricky wicket in Ranchi and were in a spot of bother after they fell from 84-0 to 120-5. Gill, who walked out at No.3, played cautiously and was batting on nine off 34 balls at one point even as wickets around him rapidly fell.
He kept his nerves, though, and combined with wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel to take India to a victory. The duo stitched together an unbeaten 72-run stand as they navigated the constant field changes and some exceptional bowling from the England spinners to lead India to yet another home series win.
Gill, whose place was under the scanner ahead of the Test series, silenced all critics with his third successive fifty-plus score, getting to the landmark in Ranchi with a six off Bashir on the third ball of the 60th over. He came down the track and even though he did not get to the pitch of the ball, swung across the line and hit it over mid-wicket to reach the landmark in 122 balls with six more needed for a win.
It was also the second boundary of his innings, with the first coming two balls earlier – The batter came down the track against a tossed-up ball by Hartley and sent it sailing over long-off to break the shackles.
Gill was unbeaten on 52 while Jurel, who made 90 in the first innings, scored the winning runs, making an unbeaten 39.
