India overcame England by 50 runs in the opening T20I at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton thanks to an all-around effort from Hardik Pandya.
England was bowled out for 148 in 19.3 overs after India set a target of 199 runs.
India’s preferred bowler was Hardik Pandya, who claimed four wickets.
Hardik Pandya earlier struck his first T20I fifty as India totaled 198 for eight wickets. Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav played innings of 39 and 33, respectively, before Hardik struck a 51. Chris Jordan, who had a two-for-23 spell, was the best bowler for England. Before being bowled out by Moeen Ali, who also got rid of Ishan Kishan in his subsequent over, Rohit Sharma also played a quick 24 before losing his wicket.
First Innings recap:
Team India has managed to score 198 runs, despite the big 3 names – Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah, skipper Rohit has a responsibility to take on the Indian XI youngsters and the “comeback” players against the dominating reds of the team England.
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan got off to a good start until Moeen Ali struck the first wicket on his 50th T20I game as Rohit walked back with 24 runs. Ishan failed to perform tonight as he scored just 8 runs.
Deepak Hooda on the other hand fired up fierce innings against England, adding on with Hardik Pandya who got his maiden fifty. The cricket analysts like Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra think that India is short of 15 runs and the favourite team currently in England.
India managed to finish off with 198 runs at the loss of 8 wickets with the middle order firing up with blazing shots
Team India won the toss and opted to bat first in the evening moments of England. Skipper Rohit did not follow the pattern of “fielding first” in the T20I format as he chose to attack, considering he would be opening the innings.
Indian team welcomes a new debutant as Arshdeep Singh finally gets his Indian cap after travelling for 3 tours with team India. With Rohit back in the squad, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rishabh Pant will not be seen in the first T20I.
Team England witnessed a new era from tonight onwards as former skipper Eoin Morgan’s retirement handed over Jos Buttler the responsibility of leading team England.
England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w/c), Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, Matthew Parkinson
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
