Easy Win For Team India in First T20i Against England
Jos Buttler's England could not put up a fight as they struggled against Indian spinners and could not capitalise in the middle overs.
England batters failed the spin test at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata as they suffered a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat in the first T20I of the five-T20I series. Indian bowlers were exceptional as they bowled out England for 132 after captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first. Opener Abhishek Sharma’s second T20I fifty helped India chase down the target with 43 balls to spare.
England lost both their openers early as Arshdeep Singh troubled them in the powerplay overs. Arshdeep surpassed Yuzvendra Chahal and became India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Buttler hit four fours off Hardik Pandya’s second over. After powerplay overs, England were 46/2. In the seventh over, Buttler and Harry Brook hit Axar Patel for a six each. Varun Chakravarthy in his second over struck twice to dismiss Brook and Liam Livingstone. At the halfway stage, England were 74/4.
Jacob Bethell struggled to rotate strike. In the 12th over, Buttler reached his fifth fifty against India from 34 balls. In the same over, Bethell departed after scoring seven runs from 14 balls. Axar was brought back into the attack and he dismissed Jamie Overton. In his next over, he got Gus Atkinson stumped. Chakravarthy in his last over was hit for a six before he got the better of Buttler. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 68 runs from 44 balls including eight fours and a couple of sixes. In the final over, Jofra Archer lost his wicket to Pandya whereas Mark Wood got run out. England were bowled out for 132 in 20 overs.
In the run chase, India got off to a good start as Sanju Samson hit Atkinson for four fours and a six in the 22-run over. Abhishek took on Archer and hit a six off him. In his next over, Archer got the wicket of Samson who scored 26 runs from 20 balls. In the same over, Archer dismissed Suryakumar as well. Abhishek liked Mark Wood’s pace and hit him for two sixes and a four. India were 63/2 after powerplay overs.
In the eighth over, Abhishek hit Rashid for a four and two sixes. In the ninth over, Abhishek hit a six off Overton to reach his fifty from just 20 balls. Tilak Varma focused on rotating the strike. Atkinson was brought back into the attack. He conceded 16 runs in his second over. In the 12th over, Abhishek fell to Rashid. His knock of 79 runs from 34 balls including five fours and eight sixes. In the 13th over, Varma finished the run chase with a boundary.
