A T20I series versus England marked the start of the second phase of the Indian international season. On Wednesday, January 22, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the sides faced off in the opening game of the five-match series.
After winning the toss, India decided to field first. As soon as Arshdeep struck off the third ball of the match, removing Phil Salt (0 off 3), the decision was clearly the right one. In his subsequent over, he made history by dismissing Ben Duckett (4 off 4), another English batter, since he was not finished. With 97 wickets presently, Arshdeep is the most wicket-taker for India in Twenty20 Internationals.
Jos Buttler’s (68 off 44) and Harry Brook’s (17 off 14) 48-run combination kept the England innings in check, but Varun Chakravarthy had intentions to ruin the visitors’ innings entirely. Brook was dismissed by the spinner with a stunning delivery that hit his stumps, ending the partnership. After two balls, Liam Livingstone (0 off 2) was hit by the unknown tweaker’s peach-sized delivery and suffered the same fate. After 7.5 overs, England needed another strong partnership at 65/4.
However, when wickets fell frequently, that did not happen. Even Buttler, who had kept the innings together from one end, was dismissed by Chakravarthy. After 20 overs, England conceded 132 runs. Hardik finished with 2/42, Axar with 2/22, Arshdeep with 2/17, and Chakravarthy with 3/23 for India.
India responded with a strong start. Similar to his previous T20I series, Sanju Samson (26 off 20) continued to play well. His deft strokework provided India with the start they wanted. His innings did not, however, endure very long. The pair of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma (19* off 16) scored 84 runs from 42 balls after captain Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for a three-ball duck.
It’s noteworthy that Varma only contributed 15 runs. India was on the verge of triumph when Abhishek quickly reached his half-century. After 34 balls, he was out for 79 runs. The game was won by India by seven wickets with forty-three balls left. The only wicket-takers for England were Adil Rashid (1/27) and Jofra Archer (2/21).
Talking Points
1. Arshdeep’s twin strikes create history
Arshdeep demonstrated his value to the Indian team and his excellent rating in this format. After taking two wickets in consecutive overs, he gave the team a strong start. He surpassed Yuzvendra Chahal to become India’s top wicket-taker in the shortest format with the second wicket. His smart, disciplined bowling controlled the runs. The left-armer demonstrated his crisp lines and lengths with an economy rate of 4.25.
2. Chakravarthy spins the web around the English batters
Chakravarthy gave India a breakthrough just when it was required. Two, not one. As previously said, he deceived Brook and Livingstone with his modifications, upsetting their furnishings in the process. The 33-year-old did a respectable job of controlling the run flow as well. Buttler’s subsequent massive scalp effectively put an end to England’s chances of scoring a respectable score.
3. Abhishek Sharma goes on a rampage
Abhishek Sharma’s destructiveness as a batter is well known to fans who would have watched and followed the 2024 Indian Premier League. Abhishek served as a reminder of the same this evening. Despite starting out a little slowly, he immediately gained up speed after Samson was fired. With strokes scattered around the ground, the Punjabi batsman spared no English bowler. After reaching his fifty off twenty balls, he continued. He hit eight sixes and five fours in his 79-run innings. When he was fired, India’s victory was only a ceremonial one.
Who Said What?
Losing skipper, Jos Buttler said:
There was a little bit in the wicket early on, probably didn’t expect that. It looked like a really good wicket, they found a little bit of movement and we lost a couple of wickets. But if you come through that phase, it’s a pretty good pitch and obviously a fast-scoring ground. Some really good players in there, we wanted to enforce the game that we want to play and we weren’t quite capable of doing that today against some good bowlers but we’re better for the run-out and we’re looking forward to the next one.
He (Jofra Archer) always looks good, he’s a superstar, he looked threatening. Thought he could have had a few more wickets there. Mark Wood was bowling fast as well. To see two of them operate in tandem is exciting. We want to be aggressive, we want to be watchable. We are up against a team who are ultra-aggressive as well, so it’s really exciting.
Winning skipper, Suryakumar Yadav said:
The energy, the way we started, that set the benchmark. All the bowlers had their own plans and executed. (On picking three spinners) We wanted to stick to our strengths. All three of them are doing a wonderful job. (On Varun) He’s keeping things very simple, his preparations are on point. He (Arshdeep) took the responsibility and he’s been doing it consistently. There’s a lot of freedom being given by Gauti bhai. We’ve been working hard with the fielding coach.
Player of the Match, Varun Chakravarthy said:
I am used to see such pitches in the IPL. I know there are certain lengths which is helpful for me. I try to keep it away from their arc. Every over, bowling in Eden is challenging. The last over was very challenging, but by God’s grace I was successful. I can’t beat batsmen with side spin. I can only beat them with bounce. I’m still 7 on 10, still more work to do.
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