English captain Eoin Morgan won an important toss at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. England capitalised on the situation as the top three Indian batsmen failed miserably.
But Rishabh Pant, came in at number 4, was extravagant and played a reverse scoop off Jofra Archer keeping up his fearless image. India banked on Pant and Shreyash Iyer’s partnership but it was soon broken by Ben Stokes. Pant’s stay at the crease was cut short as he went straight into Jonny Bairstow’s grip.
Albeit, Iyer showed resilience and stoop up on the pitch. India got some momentum as Iyer continued to send the ball at every pocket on the field. Iyer brought up 50 off 36 balls.
Hardik Pandya, who made a come back from injury departed for at the crucial time. Pandya tried to slap it through the off side but got caught by Chris Jordan at mid-off. Shardul Thakur also departed trying a rook shoot.
Jofra Archer picked up three wickets. Iyer remained glued to the pitch till the last over. He scored 67 0ff 48, his highest score in T20I, before Dawid Malan caught him brilliantly at the boundary off Chris Jordan. At the end of the innings, India scored 124 for 7.
While chasing the target, England never tottered at any point. Jos Buttler and Jason Roy gave the momentum. Roy smashed 49 off 32 and Buttler contributed 28 runs. After their dismissals, Malan and Jonny Bairstow finished off the chase. Bairstow, who struggled in the red-ball cricket, did not reflect any of the scars and went on unconquered.
Bairstow (26 off 17) played a patchy game in the Test series but seemed comfortable in the first T20. They chased down the target in 15.3 over, lost only two wickets. England go 1 up in the series.
