By Prachi Mishra
India won the first T20i match against England, from the five-match series, defeating their counterpart by seven wickets at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday. Abhishek Sharma, the leading run scorer of the match, played a magnificent inning of 79 runs in just 34 balls. The English men had to pay a hefty price for dropping his catch in the 8th over of the second innings. Sharma surpassed his previous achievement of scoring the fastest fifty in 24 balls against South Africa in November,2024 by scoring his half-century in just 20 balls this time.
After facing a devastating defeat in two subsequent test match series played against New Zealand and Australia, India is back to its dominant position with the change in format. Indian Men’s T20i captain SuryaKumar Yadav won the toss, and invited the England team, which spots three lions on their jersey, to bat first.
The Indian team was in full control of the match from the very beginning, with Arshdeep Singh taking the very first wicket on the third ball itself. What has been the trademark of the England team in white ball cricket was deployed against them by their Indian counterpart, when the entire England team got out only on 132 runs in 20 overs.
Varun Chakravarthy, popularly known as the mystery spinner of India, picked the most number of wickets (3) and conceded just 23 runs in his entire spell. He was well supported by the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel who took 2 wickets each.
Things would have looked even more gloomy for the England side, but Joss Buttler kept hold of one end of the crease despite wickets falling from the other end. Butler was successful in finding boundaries and keeping the scorecard moving throughout his innings, wherein he scored 68 runs off 44 balls.
The Indian team opted for the attacking technique wherein they went after the ball sending them for boundaries and sixes. India scored hundred runs in just 10 overs and finished their target with 43 balls still remaining. The 2nd T20i will take place in Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on 25th January, 2025.