Ind vs Eng: Despite Iyer's heroics, England wins by 8 wickets!

Ahmedabad, Mar 13: An all-around performance from England led them to win the first T20I of the five-match series as they register a comprehensive eight-wicket win over India, chasing down 125.

 

 

Asked to bat first, India did not had a stable start, got off to a shaky start. KL Rahul and skipper Kohli were dismissed cheaply for 1 and 0 respectively, leaving India on 3/2 in just 2.3 overs. It should be noted that Rohit Sharma is being rested for the first two T20Is. Therefore, we saw Shikhar Dhawan (4) open this match alongside Rahul however, he, too lost the momentum as was clean bowled by Mark Wood by a searing delivery.

 

 

 

 

 

Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya stitched together a 54-run partnership to get India to a decent total. Jofra Archer got rid of Pandya (19) and Shardul Thakur who got out for a golden duck back-to-back. Iyer played a resounding knock of 48-ball 67 but India could only manage a total of 124/7 which proved below par.

 

England openers Jason Roy (49) and Jos Buttler (28) were in good nick and made the small total look tiny as they powered England to a comfortable win. With Dawid Malan (24*) and Jonny Bairstow (26*) making the final touch-up, the English men won the match.

 

Archer was adjudged the Player of the Match for his best figures in T20I of 3/23.

 

India is making a habit out of losing the series opener and winning the series thereafter. They will look to repeat the Test panache to square the series. With four matches still left, there is a lot to play for both teams with the goal to burnish the road to this year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup.