Star India pacer Arshdeep Singh struck twice in England’s first over, as the hosts registered a bizarre record, with both openers being dismissed for ducks in the opening over for the first time in the country’s T20I history.
Chasing 191, England suffered an early setback as Arshdeep struck twice in the opening over, dismissing both Phil Salt and Jos Buttler for ducks.
Salt departed off the very first delivery of the innings, edging a short-of-a-length ball outside off stump from Arshdeep to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan. The extra bounce caught the opener by surprise, resulting in a straightforward catch behind.
Arshdeep struck again four balls later, as Buttler flicked a fuller ball straight into the hands of Varun Chakravarthy at midwicket. Although
Buttler appeared to have timed the shot well, he picked out the fielder, leaving England reeling at 1/2.
It marked the first time in England’s T20I history that both opening batters had been dismissed for ducks in the same innings.
Earlier, Tilak Varma’s last-over heroics ensured a decent 190/7 for India after Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first.
Unbeaten on 24 off just 11 deliveries, Varma responded to criticism of his batting approach in style, hammering 17 runs off Jofra Archer in the final over to lift India to a competitive 190, even if it was below the par score of 200.
The extra bounce and crosswinds on a skiddy pitch made batting challenging as the cricketing world caught its first glimpse of 15-year-old debutant Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who went past batting legend Sachin Tendulkar’s almost 37-year-old record to become India’s youngest international player.
But Sooryavanshi’s debut knock lasted just 10 deliveries, during which he struck two sixes and picked up two singles for 14 runs before being stumped by Buttler off the bowling of off-spinner Will Jacks.
Abhishek Sharma (43 off 24), Iyer (37 off 22) and Ishan Kishan (49 off 43) all made useful contributions, but none looked settled as England’s bowlers varied their pace and lengths throughout the innings.
