England vs India 2018, 1st T20I: 5 Reasons why India won

The highly anticipated India’s tour of England began with the first T20I that was held at Old Trafford, Manchester. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first. Batting first, England got off to a dream start as both the England openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler went berserk in the powerplay. Roy was dismissed in the 5th over by Umesh Yadav but Buttler continued in his rich vein of form. England looked set to score in excess of 190 but a fantastic spell in the middle overs by Kuldeep Yadav (5/24) stopped their juggernaut and they could only make a below-par score of 159.

In reply, India got off to a bad start as Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed in the very first over. But a magnificent innings from KL Rahul, ably supported from the other end by Rohit Sharma ensured that there were no more hiccups in the chase and India cantered home with 10 balls to spare. Let us have a look at the 5 reasons why India won the match.

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#1 Dropped catches of KL Rahul

Everybody knows that KL Rahul is a class act. He can single-handedly take the game away from the opposition. So when he gives you chances, you shouldn't waste them.

Today, Rahul looked in good touch from the beginning and looked set for a big score. However, on the last ball of the third over, he sliced a square drive straight to the hands of Jason Roy at backward point but the England opener could not hold on to the ball. Rahul was batting on17 at that time.

In the 8th over of India’s innings, Rahul mistimed a lofted shot to long on. Chris Jordan misjudged the catch and ran in before skipping back. In the end, he could only tip the ball over the boundary line. Both these dropped catches turned out to be big at the end as Rahul went on to score a delightful century.

#2 Middle over slowdown for England-

Batting first, England got off to a wonderful start as both Jason Roy and Jos Buttler cut loose, smashing 44 runs off the first 4 overs. However, once the powerplay ended and the spinners came on, it was a different ball game altogether as run-scoring became difficult.

India’s spinners applied the brakes on the scoring rate and the boundaries were hard to come by. Only 73 runs were scored between the 5th and the 16th over. This middle over slowdown ensured that England were at least 30 runs below par on an excellent batting wicket.

#3 Rahul-Rohit partnership-

Chasing a below par score of 160 runs on a flat batting surface, India got off to a bad start as Shikhar Dhawan was out bowled in the first over. India’s new number three KL Rahul came into bat and played some delightful strokes to get India’s innings going.

Rahul played some delightful flicks and cuts to put the pressure back on to England’s bowlers. He was ably supported from the other end by Rohit Sharma who was excellent in giving the strike back to Rahul who was smashing it to all parts of the ground.

Their 123 run partnership ensured that India chased down the total with ease.

#4 England’s spinners disappoint

After seeing the havoc caused by India’s spinners, a lot was expected out of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. However, the duo could not repeat the antics of their counterparts as KL Rahul took them to the cleaners.

Rahul was particularly severe on the off-spin of Moeen Ali who was smashed for 30 runs of his first 2 overs. Some terrific use of the feet to go along with the fancy reverse paddles bamboozled England’s spinners.

The duo did not bother any of India’s batsmen and went for 62 runs from their combined 6.2 overs.

#5 Kuldeep’s magical spell-

Kuldeep Yadav has been in excellent form recently. He picked up 7 wickets in the two T20Is against Ireland. Today as well, Kuldeep was the star of the show. Coming on to bowl in the 10th over when England was going great guns, Kuldeep turned the match on its head with his flight and variations.

His third over was the pick of the lot in which he picked up the crucial wickets of Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root. In his next over, he got the big fish Jos Buttler caught at long on. His spell of 5/24 is the best by a left arm wrist spinner in T20Is history.