Ben Stokes insists T20 series decider against India "is a final"

NICK HOWSON: The silver lining for an England side who lost by eight runs in the fourth game of the series is they have a match with plenty of jeopardy to look forward to. Just like captain Eoin Morgan likes

India v England: 4th T20 scorecard

Suryakumar stars and soft signal chaos... INDIA V ENGLAND TALKING POINTS

England allrounder Ben Stokes insists the T20 international series decider against India this weekend will be a major barometer of the team's World Cup chances later in the year.

Eoin Morgan's side were beaten by eight runs in the fourth match of the series, which stands at 2-2 with one to play on Saturday (March 20) in Ahmedabad.

Morgan spoke openly about the need to play in pressure situations as often as possible in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup.

That particular situation presented itself the last time India were in England when victory in the third ODI at Headingley secured a 2-1 success almost exactly a year out from the dramatic super over win against New Zealand at Lord's.

^{Stokes finished with 1-26 from his three overs with the ball}

Now seven months away from a tilt at another world title, a similar scenario has presented itself and one which Stokes believes could be perfectly timed.

"In an ideal world we would have loved to have gone into the next game having won the series," the Durham allrounder, who top-scored with 46 in an eventually unsuccessful pursuit of 186 to win, said.

"It sounds weird that we've got a positive out of losing and we go into the next game with a huge amount of pressure on our shoulders as a team. 

"Whoever wins that game wins the series. That's great for us as a team especially with as T20 World Cup coming up because the more pressure situations we get put into as a team the better more we'll improve.

"It is a final because if we don't win we lose the series. We want to win and make a habit of winning. The more situations we get put into with a lot of pressure on us and we keep prevailing that is just going to do us the world of good."

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