England vs India 2018, 1st T20I: Hits and misses
India kickstarted their English summer on a positive note with a comfortable victory over England in the first T20I. The Englishmen were completely outplayed on their home turf.
Winning the toss, Virat Kohli decided to chase first. India didn’t start well with the ball as England openers scored 50 runs in the first 5 overs but things changed with the introduction of the young chinaman in the form of Kuldeep Yadav who broke the back of England’s middle order and took a mesmerizing fifer. The only positive for England in the first innings was Jos Buttler.
If it was Kuldeep show in the bowling then it was KL Rahul show in the batting. The Karnataka batsman and India’s new No.3 scored an amazing century which helped India register an easy win with 10 balls to spare. Rohit Sharma and Kohlii also chipped in with the 30s and 20s respectively.
Alongside the amazing performances of India’s two young and talented cricketers, let’s have a look at some of the hits and misses from the game.
#1 Hit: Kuldeep Yadav
The 23-year-old chinaman bamboozled the Englishmen on their own soil as he recorded his career-best figures, giving away just 24 runs in his four overs and scalping out five precious wickets. He also became the first ever chinaman to take five wickets in a T20I.
Kuldeep started the proceedings with the wicket of Hales but he ran havoc in the 3rd over of his spell in which he took all important wickets of Morgan, Bairstow and Root. He returned back in his 4th over to remove Buttler which eventually made a difference of a few runs to England’s total.
England looked all at seas against the magical spinner who weaved his magic and spun them in a web through which they couldn’t get through. Kuldeep led India’s comeback and was deservingly given the man of the match award.