England vs India 2018, 1st T20I: Hits and Misses
After orchestrating a 2-0 whitewash against Ireland, India has now extended their winning streak in T20Is as hosts England were outplayed in Old Trafford, Manchester. The long-awaited Indian tour of England kick-started with India winning the toss and Virat Kohli opting to bowl against the home team in the first of three T20I games.
While England made no changes to their winning combination against Australia, India included Umesh Yadav for the injured Jasprit Bumrah. KL Rahul, too, found a place in the playing XI over Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik.
Unlike the usual overcast conditions at Manchester, it was hot and humid with the track ideal for batting. Despite a blistering start to their innings, England posted a below-par target of 160 in their quota of 20 overs.
India ranked fourth in the T20I format, went on to defeat the second-placed English side by 8 wickets and in the process, registered their seventh consecutive T20I win.
Find out which players impressed from both the sides and who will have to pull up their socks before the next encounter.
#5 Hit: Jos Butler
After his recent success in the Indian Premier League, Jos Butler was promoted to open the innings. Butler, who has been in red-hot form, had scored six half-centuries in the last seven T20 appearances.
In the opening game of the tour, he went on to register yet another half-century as he scored 69 runs from 46 balls before being dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav. Butler’s innings helped England post a decent score as the home side were struggling in the middle-overs. With eight boundaries and two sixes, Butler showcased his ramp shots as well as reverse sweeps at will.
Unfortunately, it was a one-man show from Butler as none of his teammates gave him support to post a daunting total. England would want Butler to keep performing in the same way for the next two months across all three formats.