India got off to a perfect start to the England tour with a crushing 8 wicket win in the first 1st T20I played at Old Trafford, Manchester just finished a few moments ago. After winning the toss, Indian captain decided to field first. Despite England making a fast start, the Indian bowlers made a brilliant comeback restricting hosts to a modest total. Chasing the target, it was an easy chase for Indian batsmen.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field first. England openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler got the team off to a flying start adding 50 runs for the opening in just 5 overs. Umesh Yadav dismissed Jason Roy for 30. At the end of 6 overs, England scored 53 for 1.
The Indian bowlers made a great comeback putting pressure on Alex Hales who struggled to score runs. Jos Buttler continued his brilliant form reaching his half-century off 29 balls. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Alex Hales for 8. After that Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Captain Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root in one over to change the course of the match to leave England in big trouble at 107 for 5.
Hardik Pandya dismissed dangerous Moeen Ali for 6. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed well set Jos Buttler for 69 off 46 balls to pick up his 5th wicket. David Willey played an important knock scoring a quick fire 28 off 15 balls. England ended the innings on 159 for 8 in 20 overs. For India, Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of bowlers with 5 for 24.
Chasing 160 to win, David Willey picked the early wicket of Shikhar Dhawan in the first over for 4. KL Rahul continued the superb form that he displayed in IPL 11. At the end of 6 overs, India scored 54 for 1.
KL Rahul reached his half-century off 27 balls. After reaching his half-century, he continued to smash the English bowlers while Rohit Sharma gave him support. Adil Rashid dismissed Rohit Sharma for 32. Both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma added 123 runs for the 2nd wicket.
KL Rahul reached his 2nd century in T20I cricket off 53 balls and becomes 2nd Indian after Rohit Sharma to score 2 centuries in T20I cricket. KL Rahul remained not out on 101 off 54 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes. Virat Kohli became the 4th batsman to score 2000 runs in T20I cricket after Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum and Shoaib Malik. The Indian captain hit the winning run and remained not out on 20. India won the match by 8 wickets with 10 balls to spare.
India 163 for 2 in 18.2 overs ( KL Rahul 101*, Rohit Sharma 32, Virat Kohli 20*) beat
England 159 for 8 in 20 overs ( Jos Buttler 69, Jason Roy 30, Willey 29*, Kuldeep Yadav 5/24) by 8 wickets.
England captain Eoin Morgan: a Disappointing way to lose after such a great start. Jos Buttler played very well. We lost too many wickets in the middle overs. In the upcoming matches, we need to play Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal much better to put pressure on Indian batting.
Indian captain Virat Kohli said: Very happy with the performance. With the way England started, Kuldeep Yadav was brilliant and helped us to restrict them to 159. KL Rahul was brilliant also and continued with superb form. Look to continue the winning streak in upcoming matches.
Man of the match Kuldeep Yadav: Very happy with my performance. England got off to a fast start but my job is to pick wickets and helped the team to restrict the hosts to a modest total. Great way to start the England tour with a win. Hope to contribute in the same way in upcoming matches.
India takes a 1-0 lead in 3 match T20I series. The 2nd match will be played between these two teams on 6th July at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
