IND vs ENG, 1st T20I: Varun Chakravarthy wove his magic of spin in the backyard of his franchise team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, to capture three wickets, and opener Abhishek Sharma cracked a blistering half-century to power India to a convincing seven-wicket win over England in the first of the five-match T20 series at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday.
After restricting England to a modest 132, the host rushed to the target to the joy of a packed house.
India was off to a rollicking start by plundering 63 for two in the powerplay despite losing two wickets to Jofra Archer in the fifth over.
Sanju Samson (26), who utilised his gift of timing to hammer 22 off Gus Atkinson’s first over, provided the ignition before ill-timing a pull. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav miscued one to the leg side.
HIGHLIGHTS | IND vs ENG, 1st T20I
The two blows could not deter Abhishek (79, 34b, 5×4, 8×6), who treated Mark Wood with his clean strike, hammering successive sixes over fine-leg and third man and a straight four in the sixth over.
The southpaw used his feet well against spinner Adil Rashid. He hoisted Rashid over mid-wicket and long-on and Jamie Overton over fine-leg on his way to completing his half-century at a breathtaking pace in just 20 deliveries before unleashing more fireworks. He fell to Rashid when the target was in sight.
Earlier, Mohammed Shami’s return to international cricket got delayed further as Suryakumar chose to field three spinners amid speculation split over the pacer’s form and fitness and India’s tactical move.
With plenty of dew on the field and the prospect of the pitch playing slow and the ball skidding, Suryakumar decided to bowl first.
Arshdeep extracted impressive seam movement and bowled in good areas to strike in quick succession. The third delivery of the match surprised Phil Salt even before he could open his account. Salt’s leading edge went miles up in the air before Sanju calmly accepted the catch.
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In Arshdeep’s next over, southpaw Ben Duckett, looking to play on the onside, managed a leading edge. Rinku Singh, posted at cover, ran back to take a spectacular high catch and help Arshdeep become the country’s top wicket-taker in T20Is by overtaking Yuzvendra Chahal’s tally of 96 wickets.
Unperturbed, captain Jos Buttler (68, 44b, 8×4, 2×6) batted aggressively, choosing Hardik Pandya for special treatment as he added 48 quick runs with Harry Brook.
Varun displayed his control over the light and spun to scalp two in his second over and switch the momentum. Brooks, who had problems reading the spinner, played for the turn but inside-edged one onto his pads and the stumps. Liam Livingstone was also bowled similarly.
Hardik removed Jacob Bethell and Axar claimed the wickets of Overton and Atkinson in consecutive overs. The wicketless Ravi Bishnoi kept it tight to apply more pressure.
The one-man show of Buttler, who showcased his range of shots and placement skills on both sides in his fine knock, ended as he pulled Varun to Nitish Reddy in the 17th over.
