IND vs ENG 2018: Kevin Pietersen Hails Indian Batting Lineup

Expectations were high that the India-England series would get off to a cracking start. Both the teams entered Tuesday’s first T20I high on confidence. While England had blown away Australia in their last limited-overs assignment, India had warmed up for the series by dismantling Ireland.

However, the game turned out to be an one-sided affair as India thrashed the in-form hosts by 8 wickets. Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul starred for the visitors.

India’s decision to bowl first looked to have backfired initially as England openers came out all guns blazing. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler fired on all cylinders to take the team to 50 in just the fifth over. Umesh Yadav broke the stand by dismissing Roy for 30. England, however, were still on course for a good total. In the 12th over, they were comfortably placed at 95 for 1 before Kuldeep demolished the hosts.

In his second over, he dismissed Alex Hales to trigger the collapse. In his following over, he totally derailed England’s innings by taking three wickets.  Eoin Morgan (7) holed out to the first ball and after Buttler took a single.  Jonny Bairstow (0) and Joe Root (0) were both completely bamboozled as they played forward and were stumped. As a result, England found themselves reeling at 107 for 5 from 95 for 1.

Moeen Ali (6) kept out the hat-trick ball but soon sliced one to mid-off, handing Hardik Pandya a wicket to leave the hosts reeling at 117 for 6. Kuldeep went on to complete his maiden 5-wicket haul by taking the huge wicket of Buttler.

David Willey then played a fine cameo of 29* off 15 to help England go past 150. In the end, they had 159 runs to defend.

In reply, India chased down the total with utmost ease, reaching the target with 10 balls to spare. The visitors were off to a poor star as David Willey sent back Shikhar Dhawan in the first over. However,  Rahul and Rohit Sharma added 123 runs for the second wicket to all but seal the hosts’ fate.

Adil Rashid eventually broke the stand when Rohit (32) drove straight into the hands of Morgan at covers. With the game now almost in the bag, Rahul and Virat Kohli took their time. In the meantime, Rahul brought up his hundred from 53 balls. Kohli then sealed the game by launching Ali for a six over long on.

Impressed with the dominating batting display, Kevin Pietersen took to Twitter to lavish praise on the Indian batting lineup, tweeting:

“This Indian batting line up – ❤️”

This Indian batting line up – ❤️

— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) July 3, 2018