On a smoky, occasionally febrile, at times rather downbeat night, England won the first T20 international of this three-match series, chasing down 147 to win by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare. It was a victory built on the efforts of England’s bowlers, who, after the bruising experiences of the 50-over series, had their best game of the white-ball tour.
Moeen Ali was the pick and the man of the match, showing excellent control to record his best T20 figures of two for 21 and nipping out Virat Kohli with his first ball along the way. England’s faster bowlers were accurate and hostile. Chris Jordan produced some fine off-side yorkers and Tymal Mills ran through the full range from 90mph-plus fire to some unnervingly loopy slow bouncers.
“It was a complete performance, as complete as we’ve produced on his trip,” Eoin Morgan said. “Winning the toss and bowling is extra pressure on the bowlers and we handled that really well. Tymal and Chris showed exactly why they’re in the side. They were outstanding.”
Beyond that England will be pleased to win again and take a lead to Nagpur and Bangalore. At times, as Green Park fell into a sullen, twitchy somnolence with England chasing a moderate total, it was tempting to wonder exactly what the point of all this was, other than pleasing the schedulers, the local bigwigs and the TV companies.
On the eve of the game Morgan had done his best, suggesting this series might be good preparation for the Champions Trophy, a tournament in a different format five months from now. England’s captain also enlivened the chase, producing a violent 51 off 38 balls with four sixes, the best batting of the day.
It had been billed locally as the first T20 international at the famous Green Park stadium. Less widely trailed was that it might also be the last T20 international at the famous Green Park stadium, indeed the last international of any kind if the pre-publicity for the imminent state-of-the-art stadium down the road in Lucknow is anything to go by.
England won the toss and chose to field first, drawing a mix of roars and boos around this fun, rambling selection of oversized verandas. Adil Rashid was included ahead of Liam Dawson but did not bat or bowl, Morgan deciding the state of the pitch and the success of England’s seamers demanded they stay on. For India, Parvez Rasool, an off-spinner from Kashmir, made his T20 debut with the Ravis, Jadeja and Ashwin, rested.
Mills opened the bowling to Kohli, a match-up that had been eagerly trailed, albeit with a certain willed staginess. Mills’s third ball broke the 90mph barrier. It was also short and wide and slapped through point by Kohli.
Jordan kept producing dots and had KL Rahul caught at short fine-leg trying to pull a ball that was not there for it. After which, with India 47 for one at the end of the sixth over, disaster struck for the crowd. Moeen’s first ball was whipped to midwicket by Kohli where Morgan took a catch to end a slightly messy innings, drawing the familiar pall of silence over the ground.
Next to go was Yuvraj Singh, bounced out by Liam Plunkett as Rashid took a swirling catch that cannot have been easy to pick against the cloak of soft white smog. Out came MS Dhoni to join Suresh Raina, but India’s progress lacked urgency. The only six came in the 13th over as Raina lofted Stokes with a steepling swipe. The next ball Stokes clipped Raina’s leg stump behind his heels as he played a horrible walking shot. Stokes was expensive otherwise, showing the lack of control in white-ball cricket he has identified as a weakness to work on.
The hundred came in the 14th over. Mills returned and snared his first international wicket as Hardik Pandya flailed to deep cover, another woeful shot. For the crowd the innings had dissolved into An Evening With MS Dhoni, India’s last grandee left to steer them through to the death. Dhoni finally cut loose in the 20th over, Jordan clumped straight, then spanked away with a rib-crunching right hook of a cut shot. As England trooped off clapping each other on the back 146 for seven looked like a game already more than half-done.
The openers started with intent against Jasprit Bumrah, taking 20 from a second over with Sam Billings stepping across his stumps to paddle a sensational sweep for six over fine-leg. Jason Roy plonked Ashish Nehra over long-on, the ball making an odd clanking sound off the middle of his bat, like a sledgehammer hitting the side of a wartime submarine.
The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of both of them. Roy’s wild hoick took a bottom edge on to the stumps to complete his fourth dismissal to spin in four games in India. Billings went in the same over, also bowled, coming down the pitch. These were just-the-way-I-play shots, machismo taking over with England needing seven an over. But they also provided the most intensely entertaining period of the match, the crowd sending great waves of noise barrelling around its clanky stands.
Not for long. England’s fifty came up in the sixth over as Joe Root and Morgan took the air out with quick singles and one sublime slog-sweep six from Morgan that sent the crowd in the grandstand scattering. Morgan departed with England closing in.
Root was bowled twice in two balls by Bumrah, once off a no-ball, once off the free hit that followed, leaving Bumrah on a sort-of hat-trick. Wary perhaps of becoming a pub quiz footnote, Root clipped the next ball to mid-on.
Soon after the game was done, Root clubbing Nehra away to euthanise a meandering game and complete an assertive England victory.
