England was off to a flying start against India in the opening Twenty20 International at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Chasing a below-par total of 125, England comfortable got the job done by eight wickets, thanks to opener Jason Roy's brilliant 49.
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Winning the toss, English skipper Eoin Morgan elected to bowl first, citing due in the game's latter part. As the Indian openers ventured out, KL Rahul fell for a mere single in the second over after he played on off pacer Jofra Archer.
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Skipper Virat Kohli followed him the next over, handing a catch to Chris Jordan at the covers off spinner Adil Rashid, as India lost its second with just three runs on the board. 17 runs later, in the fifth over, fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan was bowled up by pacer Mark Wood.
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As wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer took charge in the middle, the former looked in an explosive mood. However, at 48, he fell for 21 to pacer Ben Stokes after being caught by Jonny Bairstow.
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The pair of Iyer and all-rounder Hardik Pandya contributed to a 54-run stand for the fifth wicket, while the former brought up his fourth half-century. Meanwhile, Pandya fell for 19 in the 18th over at 102, after being caught by Jordan at the covers off Archer, followed by Shardul Thakur off the very next ball of the same man, caught by Dawid Malan at square leg for an unfortunate duck.
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It was then 15 runs later, in the final over, when Iyer departed for 67 after being caught brilliantly by Malan at deep backward square leg off Jordan. The pair of all-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel batted out until the end, as India finished on just 124.
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As for the English bowlers, six were utilised, with Archer being the most successful, while Rashid was the most economical.
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As England came out to bat, the openers Roy and Jos Buttler were off to a fast start, putting up a 72-run opening stand. The latter was the first to fall in the eight over, as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal trapped him leg-before for 28.
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As Dawid Malan joined Roy, 17 runs later, Roy fell a run short of his sixth T20I half-century, as spinner Sundar trapped him leg-before. Nonetheless, Bairstow and Malan completed the job with ease, as England win by eight wickets within 16 overs.
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The Indians utilised six bowlers, with only Chahal and Sundar being effective, while Pandya was the most economical.Brief scores: India 1247 (Iyer 67; Archer 323) lost to England 1302 in 15.3 overs (Roy 49; Sundar 118) by eight wickets.
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