(Cricket news) India defeated England in the opening T20I by 50 runs. It was an incredible team performance by the men in blue who played good aggressive cricket. Hardik Pandya won the man of the match award for his incredible all-round performance. India won the toss and elected to bat first as Arshdeep Singh was handed his debut cap. Rohit Sharma returned to the international side for the first time since the IPL to lead the team while England began their journey under new white ball captain Jos Buttler.
India came in to bat with a very aggressive approach as the batters continued to dominate the bowling despite losing wickets at regular intervals. Hardik Pandya was the highest run scorer as he got 51 off 33 balls hitting 6 fours and 1 six. Pandya continued his good form by scoring his first half century in T20 internationals. Rohit Sharma, Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav played important cameos to take India's first innings total to 198/8. The visitors were 15-20 runs short considering the start they had. Indian batters made full use of the powerplay and kept on going from there. Jos Buttler used all the 7 bowlers at his disposal and only Chris Jordan was economical as he finished with the figures of 2/23 in his four overs. Moeen Ali dismissed both the openers in the powerplay while Matthew Parkinson, Tymal Mills and Reece Topley got a scalp each.
England's run chase was hampered by some tremendous swing bowling by India. Arshdeep Singh's first over in international cricket was a maiden over where he completely deceived Jason Roy. He came in to bowl at the death and picked up two wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed to produce swing like he usually does as he got Jos Buttler out for a golden duck. Hardik Pandya came through with the ball and picked up 4/33 as he made the most of the conditions. Yuzvendra Chahal picked up two wickets while Harshal Patel chipped in with one scalp. England were bowled out for 148 as Moeen Ali was the only batter who crossed the 30 run barrier.
India are off to a flying start and they will back themselves to win the series from this position. The members of the Test side will join the team for the 2nd T20I while some players will be released. There is a high possibility that there will be a lot of changes in India's playing XI. As for England they will have to find a way to bat longer and use the batting depth that they possess. The bowling also has a lot of room for improvement and Jos Buttler's bowling changes could also be improved.
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