KOLKATA — Wrist-spinner
Varun Chakravarthy took an incredible 3-23, while left-handed opener Abhishek
Sharma smashed a scintillating 79 to help India thrash England by seven wickets
in the opening match of the five-match T20I series at the Eden Gardens here on
Wednesday. The result has also meant India go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
For India, everything went right from the time they elected
to bowl first to bowl out England for just 132. Arshdeep Singh took out the
openers quickly to become India’s leading wicket-taker in men’s T20Is. After
that, Chakaravarthy spun a brilliant spin web to leave England dazed in the
middle overs. Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya also picked two wickets in a
comprehensive bowling performance for India. For England, captain Jos Buttler
waged a lone battle to hit 68 off 44 balls, even as others fell around him.
In reply, India chased down 133 inside 13 overs, thanks to
Abhishek’s 20-ball fifty, the first time he hit a half-century in the shortest
format on home soil. Abhishek provided an absolute masterclass to a full house
crowd on opening the batting by hitting five boundaries and eight sixes in his
34-ball stay.
He mixed finesse and brute force in getting 68 out of 79
runs from boundaries and played a leading role in getting a comprehensive win
for India. India’s chase began on a bright note as Sanju Samson hit four
boundaries and a six in the second over to take 22 runs off Gus Atkinson.
Abhishek got off the mark by flaying and carving Jofra
Archer over the off-side for four and six respectively. But Archer bounced back
as he rushed Samson on the pull and had him caught at deep mid-wicket. One
brought two for the pacer as Suryakumar gave a leading edge on the pull and was
caught out for a two-ball duck.
From there, the Abhishek show began as he flicked, carved,
and smashed Mark Wood for two sixes and a four. After being dropped by Adil
Rashid off his own bowling, Abhishek cut, flicked, and dispatched the
leg-spinner for one four and two sixes. He then reached his fifty in 20 balls
by hooking Jamie Overton for six.
Abhishek’s carnage continued as he lofted Liam Livingstone
for four, before smashing Atkinson for three boundaries. After lofting Rashid
with the spin over extra cover for six and being dropped on the very next ball,
Abhishek’s entertaining knock ended when he mistimed a googly to long-off.
Tilak Varma hit three boundaries in his unbeaten 16-ball 19, including the
winning run, to complete India’s chase with 43 balls to spare.
Previously, Arshdeep struck as Phil Salt was undone by a
short ball while trying to work it through the leg side, and the leading edge
was caught by Samson. While Buttler hit Pandya for two boundaries, Duckett
looked to flick Arshdeep over midwicket, but the leading edge was caught by
cover in the pacer’s second over.
Buttler oozed confidence and class by flicking Pandya twice,
before pulling and glancing him to pick four boundaries in the fourth over.
Harry Brook also made an enterprising start by whipping Chakaravarthy for four,
before dancing down the pitch to slam Axar over long-on for six. After Buttler
pulled Axar for six, Brook sliced Chakaravarthy late to pick a beautiful
boundary.
Just as it looked like England would power to a big total,
Chakaravarthy brought out the googly to go past Brook’s inside edge and brushed
the pad to hit the stumps. One brought two as Liam Livingstone went for a
booming drive off Chakaravarthy, but was castled through the gate.
While brought on his fifty, he had very little support from
the other end as a struggling Jacob Bethell pulled straight to deep mid-wicket
off Pandya, while Jamie Overton holed out to the deep and Gus Atkinson was
stumped – both falling to Axar.
Buttler was soon dismissed by Chakaravarthy – with Nitish
Kumar Reddy charging in from deep mid-wicket to take a fine forward diving
catch. Rashid and Archer hit a boundary each to take England past 130 before
being dismissed in the final over. Both teams will now play the second T20I at
the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Brief scores:
England 132 al out in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 68; Varun
Chakaravarthy 3-23, Arshdeep Singh 2-17) lost to India 133/3 in 12.5 overs
(Abhishek Sharma 79; Jofra Archer 2-21) by seven wickets
