The Indian batsmen had little to offer a regular English bowling effort on a two-way track as the hosts won by eight wickets at the opening Twenty20 International in Ahmedabad on Friday. Indian batsmen played a 67-run stormy innings in front of Shreyas Iyer, which led Virat Kohli’s team to 124 for 7 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The home team managed only 124 runs and in the absence of pressure on the scoreboard, England managed to reach the target with an easy 15–3 overs lead to a 1-0 lead in the five-over series.
The England batsmen never gained momentum as England’s pace-heavy attack led by Mark Wood bothered them using the extra bounce.
Most of the Indian batsmen went on to play attractive shots when the placement would have served them well, as Iyer did later in the innings.
Jason Roy played a brilliant innings of 49, while Johnny Bairstow’s big hit showed that there were no devils in the pitch as it seemed after the Indian captain was invited to bat by England captain Eoin Morgan.
Roy made the ball clean and stiff with Jos Buttler (28) taking an early 72-run wicket, ending any hope that the Indians bothered to return to the game.
The luxury of time allowed England’s batsmen to play freely. No Indian bowler looked like asking tough questions from the audience.
Roy Washington was stranded by Sundar, but by that time England had scored 89 runs.
Bairstow (26) and David Malan (24) put their sides across the finish line.
Earlier, after blowing up India’s top order, Iyer quickly understood the nature of the pitch and adjusted his game accordingly, playing a sensible innings that helped him cross the 100-run mark.
With eight fours and a six, and coming off 48 balls, it was Iyer’s best T20 knock. He fell in the last over.
England shocked India by attacking with leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who was not only economical after pulling KL Rahul (1) back from Jofra Archer (3:23) to the stumps but also dismissed Kohli (0). .
Feeling the heat, Shikhar Dhawan, who got a chance after Rohit Sharma rested, attempted to break the hut with an attractive shot from Wood, but missed the line completely to see his wood upset. .
In-form batsman Rishabh Pant (21) was promoted to number four. He bowled the ball cleanly, including a reverse-flick with a six over Archer, but was held tight by the England bowlers.
The home team was scoring 34 runs for three wickets in eight overs. Pant and Iyer added 28 runs for the fourth wicket before Ben Stokes was given a direct hit by Bairstow.
Promoted
Which brought Hardik Pandya to the crease, who lived up to his style, looked for some big hits but could not do much.
The visiting players wore black arches in memory of former cricketer Joey Benjamin, who died on Wednesday.
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