Abhishek and bowlers help India thrash England in T20 series opener
- 22 Jan 2025
Inspired bowling and a 34-ball 79 by opener Abhishek Sharma helped India to a crushing seven-wicket win over England in the first T20 international on Wednesday.
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy and fast bowler Arshdeep Singh shared five wickets between them as India bowled out England for 132 after the hosts elected to field first in Kolkata.
Left-hander Abhishek then came out firing and despite losing two of his partners smashed a 20-ball fifty and ended with eight sixes and five fours to steer the team to victory in 12.5 overs and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The T20 series, followed by three ODIs, between the two teams serve as a warm-up for the 50-over Champions Trophy next month.
England skipper Jos Buttler smashed 68 off 44 balls but the rest of the line-up failed to get going.
Phil Salt fell for a duck on the third ball of the match, with a leading edge off his bat sending the ball high and into the gloves of wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
Arshdeep dismissed Ben Duckett for four in the third over, with Rinku Singh taking a stunning backward running catch from the covers.
Buttler hit back with four boundaries off Hardik Pandya as he attempted to rebuild in a 48-run third-wicket partnership with his new deputy Harry Brook, who scored 17.
Chakravarthy bowled Brook with a googly and sent back Liam Livingstone for a duck as the ball darted into the stumps once again.
Buttler reached his fifty in 34 balls but wickets kept tumbling and in an attempt to push the scoring the skipper finally fell to Chakravarthy, who returned figures of 3-23, the ball after hitting the bowler for six.
Arshdeep, Axar Patel and Pandya took two wickets each and a run out from the last ball saw England all out in 20 overs.
India raced to 41 in 4.1 overs before fast bowler Jofra Archer took down Sanju Samson, for 26, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav, for a duck, in the space of four deliveries. But Abhishek kept up the batting blitz to take the steam out of the England bowling.
The 24-year-old Abhishek finally fell to Adil Rashid but not after a show that entertained the raucous home crowd.
It was a disappointing start for England’s new white-ball coach Brendon McCullum, who was previously only in charge of the Test side.
India surprisingly left out Mohammed Shami after the fast bowler returned to the squad following a heel injury that kept him away from competitive cricket for over a year.
The second T20 is on Saturday in Chennai.
It is certainly a transitioning time for hosts India as they adjust to life without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who retired from the shortest format after the 2024 T20 WC victory. Abhishek is one of the few players on the shortlist of replacements but has failed to show consistency in his brief tenure with the national team.
The left-handed top-order batter is known for his ability to hit towards all parts of the ground. This prowess was on full display when he scored a blistering century off 47 deliveries in the second T20I vs Zimbabwe in July 2024.
Former India batter Aakash Chopra has acknowledged Abhishek’s potential but believes he will need to be in full form in the five-match series against England, beginning on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens, if he wants to maintain his spot in the side.
Agencies
Brief scores
England 132 all out in 20 overs (J Buttler 68; V Chakravarthy 3-23, A Singh 2-17) vs India 133-3 in 12.5 overs (A Abhishek 79, S Samson 26; J Archer 2-21)
Result: India won by seven wickets
Series: India lead the five-match series 1-0
