With seven wickets, India defeated England in the first T20I match at Eden Gardens.
At Eden Gardens, India easily won the first T20I against England when they chased down 133 runs in 7 wickets with 43 Non-Null balls left. During England’s batting struggles, Abhishek Sharma dominated the match by scoring 79 runs off 34 deliveries. India dominated at the start of the contest by breaking down England early and bowling rigorously.
The Indian team made the right call when they won the toss, as their first bowling spell stopped England in its tracks. During his opening spell, Arshdeep Singh knocked out both Phil Salt and Ben Duckett. India’s struggles to build an innings worsened when Sharma delivered 17 runs for two wickets in his spells.
During the middle overs, Varun Chakravarthychemessential wickets helped India win the match by dismissing Jos Buttler and two other batters for 23 runs. Even though Buttler scored 68 runs, England fell short against India’s tight bowling defense with their 132-run total.
After a solid start, India’s pursuit turned challenging when Jofra Archer immediately dismissed Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav one after another. After Sharma reached 100 runs with eight massive hits and five boundary hits, he made India’s batting stable again. When England dropped Abhishek Sharma at 29, it created a perfect opportunity for him to dictate the game.
India performed strongly in fielding, with Nitish Kumar Reddy making a diving catch to remove Buttler and Rinku Singh taking a precise grab to end Duckett’s innings. Theitsu Riley’s drop of Abhishek Sharma impacted England’s poor fielding performance, so they struggled more than India.
Second match will be played on Saturday,January 25 at chennai.
