England outplayed India to register a comfortable eight-wicket win in the first T20 International of the five-match series in Ahmedabad on Friday.
After opting to field first, England bowlers never allowed India to get off the blocks. India lost KL Rahul for one, captain Virat Kohli for a duck, and before they could resist these two blows, Shikhar Dhawan too fell cheaply.
Rishabh Pant played some stunning shots, but once he got out for 21, India’s hopes of setting a big total were gone.
If Shreyas Iyer hadn’t played a superb inning of 67, India might not have crossed the three-figure mark.
In reply, England chased 125 runs riding on a 49-run knock from opener Jason Roy. They reached the target in 15.3 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Brief scores:
India 124/7 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 21, Shreyas Iyer 67; Jofra Archer 3-23) lost to England 130/2 in (Jason Roy 49, Jos Buttler 28, Jonny Bairstow 26 not out) by eight wickets.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Brilliant England! 🏴 Great team performance.
Hard to look past this as the highlight of the day tho… @Eoin16 @josbuttler 🤝 pic.twitter.com/QshTeHeHR4— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) March 12, 2021
Superb win, @englandcricket. Dominated from start to finish.
👏👏👏#INDvENG— Ian Bell (@Ian_Bell) March 12, 2021
A real team performance 💪
🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴 pic.twitter.com/ZdbwAXE8EG
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 12, 2021
The @mipaltan are a better T20 team than @BCCI !!! #JustSaying #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 12, 2021
#Kohli has enough ducks this season to open a zoo #INDvENG #ViratKohli #INDvEND
— Abhi (@abtweet19) March 12, 2021
A lot of love for this guy tonight ❤️
Heart of a lion 🦁@JasonRoy20 👏 pic.twitter.com/43Xd4dMby9
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 12, 2021
World Number 1 T20 team starts with a win – beat India by 8 wickets and take 1-0 lead in the five match T20 series – chase down 125 runs from 15.3 overs – Terrific all round performance from England.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 12, 2021
Credit to England for winning so easily. Mark Wood & Jofra Archer bowled at searing pace to peg India back considerably. Jason Roy-Buttler took the game away from India. England is the team to beat. Top effort. India have their work cut out in the upcoming T20s
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) March 12, 2021
Player of the Match: Jofra Archer #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/lDePCJo9M0
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) March 13, 2021
As per recent two series..#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/G8bUg1wOyY
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) March 12, 2021
One T20I down, four to go. England win comfortably. But it’s still anyone’s series. And Hitman’s being rested for a ‘couple matches’.. wonder if we’ll see him in the next one though. 🇮🇳🏴#INDvENG
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 12, 2021
Successfully lost the first game of the series.
Now the trophy is ours.
Let's go, boys! 💪🏻#INDvENG— Manya (@CSKian716) March 12, 2021
When you go 0-1 down, but you know what happens next.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/9mZyotQd5O
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 12, 2021
