Abhisek Sharma's fiery performance against England in first T20IImage Source - Social Media

1st T20I : Arshdeep Singh, Abhisek Sharma's Heroic Efforts Helped India Win Over England

India Takes 1-0 Lead in T20I Series with Commanding Win Over England

Published on:

23 Jan 2025, 2:26 am

The first match of the T20I series between India and England was played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on January 22, Wednesday. The Indian skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, won the toss and decided to bowl first. The decision to bowl first turned out to be in favor of the Men in Blue.

India's power bowling attack made England get all out on just 132 runs in 12.5 overs; in this venue, the average first innings score is around 195. The England team even failed to play full overs and bundled themselves in front of Indian bowlers. Varun Chakravarthy's fiery spell sent Jos Buttler (68) back to the pavilion; he was the highest run-scorer from the opposition side, followed by Harry Brook (17) and Liam Livingstone (0), and Chakravarthy was awarded Player of the Match in the first T20I.

Arshdeep Singh becomes the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is Image Source - Social Media

On the other hand, left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh delivered a record-breaking spell of 2/17, becoming the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is with 97 scalps, surpassing Yuzvendra Chahal with 96 scalps.

Axar Patel took the wickets of Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson, giving away 22 runs. Hardik Pandya turned out a bit expensive by giving away 42 runs while taking the wickets of Jacob Bethell and Jofra Archer, and Ravi Bishnoi went wicketless.

Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Verma's partnershipImage Source - Social Media

Talking about India's batting line-up, Sanju Samson gave a good start by scoring 26 runs off 20 balls, smashing four fours and a six, but got dismissed by Jofra Archer. After that, Abhishek, the unstoppable Sharma, took command of the team on his shoulders, scoring 79 runs off 34 balls, smashing five fours and eight sixes. He shared an 84-run partnership with Tilak Verma (19 not out) at a strike rate of 200 but failed to finish the match, getting dismissed by Adil Rashid.

A complete power attack was seen by both batters and bowlers from the Indian team, winning the first match of the series by 7 wickets, taking a lead in the series of 1-0.

The second match of the series will be played on January 25, Saturday, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

SuryakumarYadav