[WATCH] Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleans up England captain Jos Buttler for a golden duck in 1st IND vs ENG T20I
Team India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced a beautiful delivery to knock off England captain Jos Buttler for a golden duck in the first T20I at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Thursday.
Batting first after winning the toss, the Men in Blue posted a competitive 198/8 on the board. England were hoping to get off to a good start in their chase, but that wasn’t to be the case.
Bhuvneshwar delivered a brute of an inswinger in the fifth ball of the first over to deliver the first breakthrough. The ball pitched on off and moved in sharply. Buttler attempted a flick shot but was too late on to the stroke. The ball hit his pads and deflected onto the stumps.
Watch Buttler's dismissal here:
Hardik Pandya then struck twice in his first over to leave England reeling at 29/3. Dawid Malan was the first to go, bowled for 21 off 14. The southpaw attempted to get his bat in front of his pads, but the ball took the inside edge and proceeded to hit the wickets. The dangerous Liam Livingstone (0) was then caught behind, attempting a paddle to fine leg.
Jason Roy (4 off 16) was the fourth England wicket to fall at the score of 33. Struggling for rhythm, he sliced a catch towards the third man to give Hardik his third wicket. After seven overs, England were in dire straits at 45/4.
Hardik Pandya’s 51 takes India to 198 against England
India’s total of 198/8 was built around Hardik’s maiden T20I fifty. The right-handed batter smashed 51 in 33 balls to ensure the visitors put up a healthy total on the board. The talismanic scorer struck six fours and a six during his innings.
There were good contributions from Indian batters all round. Suryakumar Yadav smashed 39 in 19 balls, Deepak Hooda contributed 33 in 17 while skipper Rohit Sharma chipped in with 24 off 14 at the top of the innings.
For England, pacer Chris Jordan was the standout bowler, returning with figures of 2/23 from his four overs. Off-spinner Moeen Ali also picked up two wickets in two overs.
India vs England 1st T20I Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(c & wk), Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, Matthew Parkinson