India Thrash England in First T20

Old Trafford witnessed the sign of things to come on India’s tour of England, with the visitor’s putting on a fine display of batting and bowling to first restrict, and then surpass the total set by the host nation. Winning by 8 wickets, and seeing a dazzling century from K.L. Rahul were just some of the highlights in this match. With another two T20 matches to go, followed by three ODIs and a five test match series, the first match has possibly set the tone for what is to follow. The clash between these two nations will be interesting, given that both of them are coming off of strong performances prior to this, and will look to make this a series to assert dominance, before the Cricket World Cup next year.

The first innings saw the Indian bowlers restricting the English batsmen to 159 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, after what looked like they would post a more challenging total when they were 95/1 early on. However, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a magic spell, taking three English wickets in the same over, and ending with match figures of 5-24 off his four overs. Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya were the other two bowlers among the wickets, with two and one, respectively.

However, there was far more to follow as India came out to bat, in spite of the early exits of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, because K.L. Rahul seemed to be continuing the excellent form that he has been in, racking up a score of 101 in only 54 deliveries. He was sent up the order to the number 3 spot by captain Virat Kolhi, and made the most of this opportunity by scoring the century, with Kolhi in attendance at the crease to watch it as it happened.