Eoin Morgan spent the bulk of the One-Day series eagerly awaiting a complete performance, one in which all disciplines of their limited-overs sides synchronise harmoniously in-keeping with their newly-earned reputation as a top limited-overs side.
He had himself held his end of the bargain with a stunning century in a losing cause in Cuttack but the bowlers had been sent on a leather hunt all through that series. That coming together of different facets came in the first T20, with Morgan’s 51 off 38 following an impressive bowling performance, set up an England win by seven wickets at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
There were other noteworthy performances for the visitors on the night. Joe Root was rock solid for his 46 in the 83-run stand alongside his captian, while Jason Roy and Sam Billings had effectively knocked out a third of the 148-run target in 3.2 overs. But Moeen Ali’s 2 for 21 after England elected to bowl was the pick of the lot, an effort which also saw a very judicious use of the slower ball by pace sensation Tymal Mills at the death. Ali dismissed Kohli off the first ball of his spell and gave away a solitary boundary in an unchanged four-over spell that rocked India’s push for a substantial total on a wicket which offered some grip and swing particularly in the first half of the innings.
Morgan, who in the build up to the series has fielded questions about his teammates chances in the IPL auctions, did his own prospects no harm. The England captain was at his imperious best, particularly against India’s biggest threat on the night – spin – slamming four sixes and a boundary, paving the way for England’s win with 11 balls to spare.
India’s insipid display on the field was summed up by Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled Root twice at the end – off a no-ball and the ensuing free-hit, and the star England batsman ensured he finished the event not too long after to give England the first blood in the series.
The chase of 148 had assumed rather straightforward proportions after Roy and Billings’ early blitz. It took only 2.2 overs and the concession of 32 runs for Indian players to congregate in different huddles all across the field in the chase. As had been the case in the Kolkata one-dayer, Billings blazed away to a rocket start and Roy looked set to follow suit in the double-ended tee off.
Kohli turned to Yuzvendra Chahal in search of control and the Haryana leggie did well to by helping the Green Park crowd find its collective voice after that strange batting innings from India. Chahal beat Roy Sam Billings with his dip and castled them and accounted for Billings three balls later. Parvez Rasool and Suresh Raina bowled tidy follow-up overs but England’s blazing start had effectively wiped away any required rate concerns, allowing Root and Morgan to bide their time in the chase, one they achieved without breaking a sweat.
It was a strange sort of a T20I innings from India, after spending the preceding One-Day series clubbing the ball over the place. England brought back Adil Rashid after leaving him out in the ODIs at Cuttack and Kolkata but gave the leggie no overs to bowl in what was otherwise a well-rounded bowling effort.
The teams were greeted by a surprisingly greasy Kanpur sky after New Delhi and some other North Indian cities received an unforeseen rain lashing late on Wednesday night. The overcast conditions and the promise of dew meant England had little misgivings about having a bowl first.
India’s decision to not pick either of Rishabh Pant or Mandeep Singh meant that Kohli walked out to open on his T20I captaincy debut. It took three balls for him to leave an impression on the fiery Mills – a square cut for four getting India away. But on a wicket that offered a smidge of swing at the start, even an in-form Kohli went through a sequence of three deliveries from Chris Jordan without connecting any of his attempted drives.
Mills hurried KL Rahul for pace but Kohli’s relatively breezier start meant India had reached 33 after four overs. But Rahul’s dismissal, after a fidgety 8 from 9, set the tone for India’s failure to stitch any partnership of substance. The under-pressure Raina began with a couple of boundaries off Plunkett as India marched on to 47 at the end of the powerplay.
The introduction of Moeen in the eighth over began India’s slide. The all-rounder struck off his first delivery when Kohli whipped his flick straight to mid-wicket. The off-spinner bowled his quota of overs in one go, adding the wicket of Manish Pandey in his fourth to finish with admirable figures of 2 for 21. In between, India lost Yuvraj Singh to a miscued pull and Raina, after giving a glimpse of his pedigree from No.3, walked too far across his stumps to be bowled for a 23-ball 34.
Dhoni, as is his wont, marshalled the lower-order but the lack of support from the other crippled India’s final push. Mills’s excellent second spell, when the slower deliveries became a more prominent feature, set the hosts further back. The Sussex pacer got the wicket of Hardik Pandya and gave away only 12 off the 17th and 19th overs, from which even Dhoni’s final over flourish could take India only to 147.
A total rendered grossly sub-par by the conditions and England’s belligerence.
Brief Scores:
India 147/7 in 20 overs (MS Dhoni 36*, Suresh Raina 34; Moeen Ali 2-21) lost to
England 148/3 in 18.1 overs (Eoin Morgan 51; Joe Root 46*; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-27) by seven wickets.
