The first T20 of the three-match T20 series between India and England got underway in the Rosebowl, Southampton late at night on Thursday. Captain Rohit Sharma was finally back into the team after missing the rescheduled fifth Test due to Covid 19. India won the toss and decided to bat first. Arshdeep Singh was handed his debut cap by the Indian Team management.
Rohit started the innings positively and looked in good touch as he scored 5 boundaries in his innings before losing his wicket to Moeen Ali. Kishan failed to get going and lost his wicket trying to ‘up the ante’ against Moeen. The duo of Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav came together at the crease and scored quickfire 30s. All-rounder Hardik Pandya looked in fine touch as he brought up his maiden half-century in T20Is. He was dismissed for 51 off 33, including 6 fours and a six. Some useful cameos by Axar Patel and Dinesh Karthik got India to the total of 198 in their allotted 20 overs.
The England chase began in the worst-possible manner as Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned up the explosive Jos Buttler with a beautiful inswinger. Pandya shone brightly with the ball as well as he removed Liam Livingstone and David Malan in the same over. England suffered another big blow as Pandya removed the dangerous Jason Roy, who was struggling against the Indian seam attack. Roy had a forgettable outing in the middle as he was dismissed for 4 off 16 balls.
A 61-run partnership between Harry Brooks and Moeen helped England revive the innings but even they faltered after the duo couldn’t keep up with the required run rate. The England chase just couldn’t get going as India picked up wickets at regular intervals and emerged victorious. Hardik Pandya was the star of the show, who scored a 50 and picked up 4 wickets for 33 runs in his 4 overs. In the end, England fell short of 50 runs as debutant Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal also picked up 2 wickets each.
Here’s how the twitter reacted to India’s performance:
An absolute peach 😍@BhuviOfficial | #OrangeArmy #ENGvIND
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) July 7, 2022
India have found 3.1° of swing in the first two overs of this match.
No team opening the bowling with two fast bowlers has ever found more swing in a T20I #ENGvIND
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) July 7, 2022
Really liked this new aggressive approach by team India but still feel they are 10-20 runs short against a quality English batting. But still 199 is still a huge target to get. #EngvsInd pic.twitter.com/oGOKtXvBBX
— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) July 7, 2022
Jos didn't have a chance there, did he? 🤩
Yeh hai apne bhuvi ki khoobi 🙌#ENGvIND | @BhuviOfficial
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) July 7, 2022
Bowling at the death and with India nearing 200, that's a special spell from Chris Jordan 👏#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/2xV8XGyflM
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 7, 2022
England are 33-4. Jos-Ball is off to a tricky start…#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/0Zy5o2QOHU
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 7, 2022
I really can’t tweet during cricket matches, I was typing a tweet about how easy Rohit Sharma is on the eye… Out!! Typed one about Moeen being one of the sweetest strikers of a cricket ball… Stumped!!
— Wayne Parnell (@WayneParnell) July 7, 2022
Most T20I wickets for England
82* C Jordan
81 A Rashid
65 S Broad
51 G Swann#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/rbDXRz4cBq— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) July 7, 2022
This is the #HardikPandya India was waiting for.. #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/lDFg5eo6C2
— Shubhankar Mishra (@shubhankrmishra) July 7, 2022
the first Indian player to pick 4 wickets and score 50 runs in a single T20I.🥁🥁#HardikPandya #INDvsENG
— చిన్న రామయ్య 𝐅𝐀𝐍 (@likhith_09) July 7, 2022
