Picture Credit: Twitter/@ICC
A brilliant collective effort from the bowlers led England to a convincing 8-wicket win over India in the T20I series opener at Narendra Modi stadium, Ahmedabad. After restricting India to a mere 124 runs, England top order knocked off the runs with over 4 overs to spare. England take 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
England looked a completely different side under Eoin Morgan as the pacers breathed fire under the lights. After opting to bowl, England pulled out the spin trick from India’s book of bowling and opened the bowling with Adil Rashid. The all-rounder didn’t disappoint either as he picked up the priceless wicket of Indian skipper Virat Kohli, in his second over. However, the opening wicket of KL Rahul went to Jofra Archer, who castled the opener’s stump in his first over.
Shikhar Dhawan, who was making his comeback in the Indian side, couldn’t make much contribution as fell prey to Mark Wood inside the powerplay. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant tried to steady the ship but an over attacking approach by Pant led to his dismissal. However, Iyer’s fighting 67 took India past 120, which at the end didn’t prove to be enough as Jason Roy’s quickfire 49 didn’t give Indian bowlers any chance.
Different outfit, different mindset, different result
After an embarrassing 3-1 defeat in the Test series, England batsmen’s approach against the spinners were criticized. However, the England side looked completely different in the shorter format as opener Jason Roy smashed Yuzvendra Chahal all around the park.
Virat Kohli’s wait for 3000 T20I runs continues!
All great cricketers go through a slump in their career and it seems Virat Kohli is currently going through it. After a century slump in 2020, Virat Kohli is going through runs slump as the Indian skipper bagged his third duck in five games. Kohli needed 73 runs to become the first player to complete 3000 runs in T20Is. Instead, he became the Indian skipper with most ducks in international cricket - 14.
Not an ideal comeback from Shikhar ‘Gabbar’ Dhawan!
Virat Kohli surprised the fans and experts when he announced his decision to rest Rohit Sharma for the game. But the experiment to go with Dhawan and KL Rahul didn’t go as planned as both the openers departed cheaply. Dhawan, who was making a comeback in the national side after a while, looked rusty and couldn’t settled down.
The team will play the second T20I at the same venue on March 14th with an aim to level the series.