India vs England 2021: Twitter Reacts As England Maul India By 8 Wickets In The First T20I

By Yash Mittal

Updated - 12 Mar 2021, 11:33 PM

England, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
England beat India by 8 wickets [Image-BCCI]

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England, on Friday, once again displayed just why they are the No.1 ranked white-ball team in the world, as they thumped Team India by eight wickets to take a 1-0 in the five-match series.

Defending just 124, India needed wickets at the top to give themselves any chance of making a comeback. However, the duo of Jason Roy and Jos Buttler ensured that it wasn’t the case.

Roy, in particular, came out all guns blazing, as he raced to a 15-ball 24. Jos Buttler survived two close calls in the 4th over- first when he mistimed a lofted drive over Axar Patel’s head, which was nearly caught courtesy of an incredible effort by KL Rahul, and then when he was trapped in front of the wicket by the left-arm spinner, only for the ‘Umpire’s Call’ to come to his rescue.

Buttler, however, responded with an audacious backfoot punch over covers and then with a monstrous six over midwicket as England raced to 42 runs in just 5 overs.

India, England
Jason Roy [Image-Twitter]
England finished the first powerplay at 0/50, a score that India couldn’t manage in the first ten overs.

Jason Roy continued his onslaught against the Indian spinners, especially against Yuzvendra Chahal, who he smashed for a four and six off consecutive deliveries in the 8th over. Chahal got India the first breakthrough as he pinned Jos Buttler plumb in front to break the 72-run opening stand. Thanks to that wicket, Chahal leapfrogged Jasprit Bumrah to become the leading wicket-taker for Team India in T20I cricket.

Roy [49 off 32 balls], however, failed to get past the 50-run mark as he was pinned plumb in front by Washington Sundar after the opener failed to connect the leg-glance for a single.

But Jonny Bairstow’s belligerence [26* off 17 balls] ensured that England knocked off the remaining runs in a canter to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

 

Lackluster India managed a mere 7/124 against a disciplined England bowling

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli dismissed for a duck [Image-Twitter]
Batting first, Team India got off to the worse possible start as they lost opener KL Rahul in just the second over of the innings after the stylish batsman dragged on to his stumps in an attempt to drive Jofra Archer towards the cover region.

With just two runs coming in the first two overs, captain Virat Kohli perished for a 5-ball duck in an attempt to up the ante after he backed away from the crease stroked Adil Rashid straight to the mid-off fielder.

India, England, Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant. (Photo: BCCI)

Rishabh Pant picked off from where he had left in the Test series as he played some enterprising strokes- none better than the audacious reverse-sweep off Jofra Archer.

However, Shikhar Dhawan (12-ball 4) continued to struggle at the other end before he eventually perished as his stumps were knocked back after he missed the hoike across the line.

India managed a mere 21 runs in the powerplay. Rishabh Pant slowed down after a brisk start and in an attempt to break the shackles, he perished for a 23-ball 21 after he picked out Jonny Bairstow at the deep square-leg boundary.

Shreyas Iyer played some beautiful orthodox strokes against Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid as he and Hardik Pandya looked to rebuild the Indian innings.

England pacers were outstanding, not only did they made subtle changes in pace to great effect but they also tested the Indian batsman with searing pace courtesy Mark Wood, who gave away just 12 runs in his first three overs.

Wood, in particular, troubled Hardik Pandya with his extra pace and bounce as the all-rounder managed just 5 runs off the first 9 balls he faced.

Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer
Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer. (Credits: Twitter)

With just 71 runs on the board after 14 overs, India desperately needed a strong push from Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya to get themselves anywhere near a competitive total.

Pandya finally opened up his long levers in the 15th over as he smashed Ben Stokes over his head for a six before playing a cheeky dab for a boundary on the very next delivery. Shreyas Iyer looked the best Indian batsman on show as he played some beautiful strokes all around the ground. The Mumbai cricketer welcomed Jofra Archer back in the attack with two classy back-to-back boundaries. He completed a 36-ball 50 in the next over of Chris Jordan, and he celebrated that with an audacious six over a backward point to bring up India’s 100.

However, India continued to lose wickets and they lost a big one in the form of Hardik Pandya, who in an attempt to cut Archer over mid-off, proceeded to hit it straight to Chris Jordan. Archer backed it up with another wicket on the very next delivery as Shardul Thakur holed out in the deep.

Shreyas Iyer (67 off 48 balls) eventually holed out in the last over courtesy a brilliant catch by Dawid Malan as India finished at an underwhelming 7/124 after 20 overs.

 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1370414934702575620

https://twitter.com/JuniorLohia/status/1370402107707195393?s=19

https://twitter.com/benjonescricket/status/1370371380559089669?s=19

https://twitter.com/HeyManjeet_/status/1370372428157710338?s=19

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