India begins their lengthy England tour in a thrashing way where Kuldeep Yadav claimed a fifer and KL Rahul scored a magnificent century in the first T20I of three-match T20I series against the hosts England at Old Trafford (Manchester) on Tuesday. England was restricted to just 159/8 in 20 overs while India reached their target in 18.2 overs after losing only their both openers.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to field first after winning the toss. England had a good start as their opening batsmen Jason Roy and Jos Buttler provided an exact 50-run partnership for the opening wicket.
While Roy was dismissed on 30 off 20 balls by the pacer Umesh Yadav, Buttler took the responsibility to carry the innings but other batsmen failed to score enough runs. England suffered a huge batting collapse as they went down to 117/6 from 95/1. Apart from the openers, the no.8 batsman David Willey was the only other English batsman to reach the double-digit mark as he played an important cameo role of unbeaten 29 runs off just 15 balls (2 fours and 2 sixes) that helped the team to cross the 150-mark.
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Buttler played another important role for England as he scored 69 off 46 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes but the Indian left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav snatched the entire limelight of that innings with his brilliant bowling skills that destroyed a good looking powerful batting line-up. Yadav ended with an impressive bowling figure of 4-0-24-5 as he produced a total of 14 dot balls in that brilliant spell.
Also, the pacer Umesh Yadav (2/21) picked up two wickets while Hardik Pandya (1/33) got one more wicket.
In reply, India lost their opener Shikhar Dhawan (4 runs) early in the first over. However, the solid 123-run second wicket partnership between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul helped the visiting side to win the game comfortably.
Rahul played the major role in that innings as he scored a brilliant century and remained unbeaten on 101 runs off 54 balls (10 fours and 5 sixes).
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Meanwhile, the opener Rohit Sharma scored 32 off 30 balls while the Indian skipper Virat Kohli eased the chasing with the unbeaten 20 off 22 balls. These innings helped the Indian team to chase the target in 18.2 overs after losing just two wickets.
Among the English bowlers, only David Willey (1/30) and Adil Rashid (1/25) earned one wicket each.
While India won this game by eight wickets with 10 balls to spare, Kuldeep Yadav won the Player of the Match award for his impressive performance.
Here are some twitter reactions:
Great start Team India!! Continue the brand of cricket you played today.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2018
Special touch from @klrahul11. Making batting look very easy. A combination of great balance and good temperament. #ENGvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2018
Amazing spell by @imkuldeep18 England failing to read Kuldeep’s wrist position. #ENGvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2018
K L Rahul has settled the issue of his selection for not just the T 20 but also ODI series in great style
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 3, 2018
After Kul , KL a treat to watch#ENGvIND
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 3, 2018
This Manis just unbelievable. What a class innings from the champion player.. Take a bow man 👍#KLRahul #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/YgKk9wAZeB
— vardaan kapoor (@kapoorvaru) July 3, 2018
Outstanding display by India …. You don’t see many teams hammer the England white ball team these days …. #ENGvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 3, 2018
KL Rahul also has to play in the Tests………
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/SirJadejaaaa/status/1014230920084090880
What a wonderful start to the England series for India. An outstanding spell of wrist spin bowling from @imkuldeep18 , followed by a brilliant hundred from @klrahul11 . Well begun @BCCI #ENGvIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) July 3, 2018
Take a bow @klrahul11 what an inn champ.. keep going 💪 it’s gonna be tough for England to stop this indian batting line up going forward
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 3, 2018
Wow….
I can watch #KLrahul batting all night… without any break… this guy is phenomenal.. can't take off my eyes…#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/7HJeDpwuTc— gandhiraja (@mgandhiraja5566) July 3, 2018
The magic of wrist spin again. Such fun watching young Kuldeep. He might just be bowling himself into the test team……
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 3, 2018
Emphatic. Both performers have made a strong case to be included in the XI in all three formats. Both are special talent. Kuldeep & Rahul. #EngvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1014224746282717184
https://twitter.com/sanket_daksha/status/1014225976790867969
Hats off #KLRahul !! For a wonderful hundred under tough conditions with a potent English bowling attack and Manjrekar in the commentary box..#IndvEng
— The Lying Lama 2.0 (@KyaUkhaadLega) July 3, 2018
Well begun is half done. This beginning is a sign of things to come. @imkuldeep18 and @klrahul11 were simply brilliant. Outstanding performance #ENGvIND
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/Mr_360Abd/status/1014235074600898560
Well done Team India. As comprehensive as it gets and a great beginning. Memorable performances from @imkuldeep18 and @klrahul11 #ENGvIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 3, 2018
Dear England,
Yeh Australian bowling attack nahin hai.
Thanks
Kuldeep Yadav #INDvENG— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) July 3, 2018
England team be like..
Wo jo do wrist spinners hai.. Unko tour pe lana jaruri tha kya.. #ENGvIND #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/FDU9k05Fo7
— Rohit Chanaksh (@which_rohit) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/ViratKohli18A/status/1014202531826634754
Is this match being played in England or in Kanpur or Nagpur? Sun out, Concrete wicket, no grass, no movement.. whatever happened to ‘’home’ conditions? #INDvENG
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) July 3, 2018
English batsmen playing spin against India… #IndvEng pic.twitter.com/giIF7kyosy
— The Lying Lama 2.0 (@KyaUkhaadLega) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/Ahmadbilal111/status/1014210362286268417
PA : Ma’am what a match, Kuldeep Yadav is asking so many questions !
Sushma Swaraj : Block kar ise abhi ke abhi…#IndvEng
— The Lying Lama 2.0 (@KyaUkhaadLega) July 3, 2018
English batsmen playing spin against India… #IndvEng pic.twitter.com/sU7uLrn8PT
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/SirJadejaaaa/status/1014235400443793408
England Players when they faced Kuldeep#ENGvIND #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/1VX9LIR205
— urstrulyKajal🇮🇳 (@BanarasiBasanti) July 3, 2018
face of england's batting against indian spinners. #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/78uAyG7Gnm
— Kuptaan 🇮🇳 (@Kuptaan) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/CricLama/status/1014220168543629312
English batsmen when they see a spinner #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/DElNtAIxVp
— Knight Watchman (@knightwatchman) July 3, 2018
As Virat Kohli hit the winning runs against England at Manchester #EngvInd,
Colombia equalise against England at Moscow #COLEng— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 3, 2018
