England beat India by 7-wicket to go up the series 1-0. Thanks to some finest bowling by the visitors and following up the same with attacking batting, the Morgan-led English team crushed India easily. They were given a target of 148-run to win, which they effortlessly accomplished with 10 balls to spare.
Joe Root, England
Earlier today, on winning the toss, England opted to bowl first putting India to bat first. Kohli and Lokesh Rahul came to bat as an opening pair. However, Rahul departed early (8) getting caught by Adil Rashid off Chris Jordan. India soon lost their 1st wicket with just 34 runs on scoreboard.
Talented Suresh Raina was the next man to come in. The left-handed batsman looked in sublime touch as he frequently timed the ball for cheeky singles and boundaries. Raina 34 (23b, 4s x 4, 6s x 1) played really well and made his appearance felt in this T20 format after around 10 months. But brilliant York-length delivery from Ben Stokes completely dismantled Raina’s bails.
Virat Kohli (29) looked good but he was soon removed by Moeen Ali when dashing batsman misjudged an off-spin delivery and was caught by Morgan. With loss of so many top order batsmen within 100-run-mark, Dhoni was India’s last hope.
MS Dhoni continued his extra-cool batting to keep the scoreboard ticking. No doubt, without Dhoni’s unbeaten 36* (27b, 4s x 3) it was impossible for India to even get passed 120-run mark. He played unperturbedly in the end, even when wickets kept falling like cards on the other ends.
With just 148 runs to win, England wanted to settle things early. Opening pair of Jason Roy and Sam Billings once again gave a flying start to the team with 42-run partnership for the first wicket.
But some excellent bowling by Chahal saw England losing two important wickets in quick successions. Interestingly, Chahal bowled out both Roy (19) and Billings (22), with fantastic spin bowling – which went straight to the stump. England’s score came down to 43 for 2 in just 3.5 overs. But damage was already done.
Considering England’s superfast run-rate this match was already slipping out of India’s hand. What needed were wickets and breakthrough at that stage. But India’s luck didn’t help. The likes of Pervez Rasool, Nehra and Bumrah couldn’t stop England’s flow of run. Chahal bowled well but he didn’t get more support from other bowlers. The leg spinner finished his spell with an impressive 4-0-27-2.
Joe Root 46* (46b, 4s x 4) and Captain Eoin Morgan 51 (38b, 4s x 1, 6s x 4) added match-winning 83-run partnership for the third wicket bringing England closer to another fantastic victory against India.
Brief Scorecard:
England 148/ 3 (18.1 Overs) Root 46* & Morgan 51
India 147/ 7 (20 Overs) Dhoni 36* & Raina 34; Moeen Ali (2/21)
Result: England won the match by 7 wickets
Man of the Match: Moeen Ali
Tags: 1st T20I, England, Eoin Morgan, India, Joe Root, Kanpur, Paytm T20 Trophy
