A day before the five-match T20I series began, Indian captain Virat Kohli stressed on how the team would go in with a fearless approach. On Friday, the Men in Blue seemed overzealous as they failed to get their eye in and get accustomed to the pace the English bowlers extracted from the pitch. In the end, a total of 125 was unlikely to trouble a power-packed England side, who chased down the target in just 15.3 overs.
England opted to play just one spinner in Adil Rashid. Their attack was led by their faster bowlers, who blew India away with their searing pace and probing accuracy. Jofra Archer constantly clocked the 140kph-mark, while Mark Wood sent on down at 152 kph. Sam Curran and Chris Jordan mixed their deliveries skilfully as England never let India off the hook after winning the toss and opting to bowl.
Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, playing international cricket after 8 December, looked rusty at the crease as they failed to navigate the pacey deliveries hurled at them. India saw themselves slip to 20/3 by the fifth over with as many as 23 dot balls in the Powerplay overs, which only increased the pressure on the middle order that followed.
The early wickets did hamper the momentum, but Rishabh Pant, in the form of his life, played a number of cheeky strokes to give hopes of a revival. After reverse sweeping James Anderson with the new ball en route his ton in the Test series, he now reverse lapped Archer to leave the crowd shocked. However, he fell soon afterwards, and it was left to Shreyas Iyer to ensure India got over the 100-run mark. Iyer added 54 runs with Hardik Pandya, but the latter fell in the 18th over and Iyer in the 20th.
In reply, the English opening pair of Jason Roy and Jos Buttler got the team to a flier. They smashed 50 in the Powerplay, significantly more than India’s 22/3. Roy was the aggressor as he used his feet well against the spinners and hit as many as four fours and three sixes in his 32-ball 49. Buttler, on the other end, took his time to settle in, but he timed the ball beautifully during his short 24-ball stay at the crease that fetched 28 runs. He eventually fell to Yuzvendra Chahal while playing for the turn, but not before the pair had put on 72.
Though Shardul Thakur bowled a good line in his first spell and Washington Sundar struck with his first ball, the below-par target of 125 was never expected to pose a problem for the mighty England line-up. In the end, Jonny Bairtsow and Dawid Malan took England home with a 41-run stand to help their side take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The next game will be played at the same venue on Sunday.
Brief scores:
India 124/7 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 67; Jofra Archer 3-23) lost to England 130/2 in 15.3 overs (Jason Roy 49; Washington Sundar 1-18) by 8 wickets. Player of the Match: Jofra Archer.