5 interesting stats from the 1st India vs England T20I match
The India-England T20I series began with a lopsided opening game. The visitors crushed Virat Kohli's men by eight wickets and 27 balls to spare at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to field first. That decision proved to be a masterstroke, as the visitors restricted Team India to a meagre 124/7 in their allotted twenty overs. Barring Shreyas Iyer, no other Indian batsman got going in the game.
In response, India's bowlers could not pick up early wickets, as Jason Roy and Jos Buttler stitched together a 72-run opening stand in eight overs to effectively end the game as a contest. Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow then completed the formalities as England took a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.
On that note, here are the top five interesting stats from the first T20I between India and England in Ahmedabad.
#1 Yuzvendra Chahal becomes India's highest wicket-taker in T20Is
Yuzvendra Chahal struggled to keep Jason Roy in check at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Although the English opener's struggles against spin are well known, he played Chahal brilliantly, hitting the leg-spinner out of the park multiple times.
However, Chahal had some luck, as he took out the other opener, Jos Buttler, by trapping him in front of the wicket. That made the leg-spinner Team India's most successful bowler in the shortest format of the game.
Breaking a tie with Jasprit Bumrah, Chahal now has 60 wickets to his name in 46 T20I matches.
#2 Team India record their second-lowest powerplay score in T20Is
The powerplay overs have been England's strength in the shortest format of the game. However, India's batsmen tend to start slowly before switching gears.
Unfortunately, in the first T20I, that tactic backfired, as Team India lost wickets at regular intervals in the first six overs. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli returned to the dressing room in quick succession, reducing India to 20/3 after five overs.
Courtesy Rishabh Pant's aggression, India managed 22 runs in the first six overs. Nevertheless, it marked the team's lowest powerplay score in T20Is while batting first and their second-lowest overall.
Team India's lowest powerplay score is 21/3, which they recorded against Pakistan in Dhaka in the 2016 Asia Cup.
#3 Virat Kohli records two consecutive ducks for the first time in his international career
Indian captain Virat Kohli has not been at his best with the willow of late. He has not scored a century in international cricket across formats since November 2019.
After falling for a 5-ball duck in the first T20I against England, Virat Kohli recorded consecutive international ducks in all formats for the first time in his 12-year international career.
Ben Stokes dismissed Virat Kohli in the fourth Test, while Adil Rashid got the better of the Indian captain in the first T20I.
#4 Shreyas Iyer records his highest T20I score
While there were many negatives for Team India in their emphatic defeat in the first T20I, there were a few plus points too. One of them was Shreyas Iyer, who waged a lone battle even as wickets fell around him.
Iyer did not contribute much during the Australian tour, but he played an excellent knock of 67 runs in the first T20I to bail his team from a precarious 20/3 after five overs.
The Delhi Capitals captain patiently set about rebuilding the Indian innings with Rishabh Pant. Iyer scored a career-best 67 runs off 48 balls before falling to Dawid Malan at square-leg in the last over.
Thanks to his heroics, India reached 124/7, but that eventually proved to be inadequate against a power-packed English team.
#5 England record the joint-fastest T20I run-chase against India on Indian soil
Team India had a fabulous run in T20Is last year. The Men in Blue suffered only one loss, which came in a dead rubber against Australia.
Kohli's men were unbeaten in T20Is on home soil since December 2019. However, that streak ended after a rather lopsided defeat against England in the first T20I in Ahmedabad.
Chasing a modest 125 for victory, the tourists cantered home with more than four overs to spare. That marked the joint-quickest chase against India in a T20I on Indian soil.
Australia had beaten India in 15.3 overs, doing so in a T20I in 2017 while chasing 119 for victory. Four years later, it was England's turn to beat India at home with 21 balls to spare.