STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsIndia have put behind their demoralizing defeat in the fifth Test, by a thumping win in the first T20I against England. Set up by the top order, India finished high on 198/8. The bowlers provided the perfect start by picking up three wickets inside the Powerplay. Eventually, England ended up 50 runs short.
Rohit’s dream run as India’s T20I captain
Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India have lost only four matches out of 29. His win/loss ratio of 6.250 is the best, by a distance, for any captain who has led in 25+ matches.
Before heading into this match, India under Rohit, were unbeaten in 12 consecutive matches. With a win in this match, Rohit became the first captain in T20Is to win 13 consecutive matches, starting from November 2019, against Bangladesh.
Hardik’s all-round performance steals the show
So far, it has been a dream year for Hardik Pandya. Led Gujarat Titans to a win in their first season of IPL, followed it up by a win in the series against Ireland, in his maiden series as India’s captain. Not only his captaincy, with the bat and ball, he is on a roll.
After scoring his first half-century in T20Is, Pandya returned with figures of 4/33 with the ball, his best T20I performance. In the process, he became the first Indian to score a 50+ and pick up a 4-wicket haul in the same match. Overall, among the full member teams, he was the fifth to achieve this feat. Yuvraj Singh in 2009 against Sri Lanka, had scored 61 and bagged 3/23.
India pile on a high score
The approach from India in this match was completely different, but an effective one. Apart from Ishan Kishan, six out of the top seven batters had a strike rate of 140+. In the top four, three players scored 20+ and all three had a strike rate of over 170+. By virtue of it, India had scored 66 in the Powerplay, their second highest against England.
Pandya and Dinesh Karthik finished India’s innings on a high as they scored 198/8. In T20Is in England, this is the third highest total by an Asian team. Pakistan in 2021 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, had scored 232/6, the highest. India in 2018, had scored 201/3 in Bristol, the second highest.
Rohit races to 1000 runs as skipper
The Indian skipper might not have the runs to back him this year, but his intent has been completely different to what it was before. Since 2021, Rohit has scored at a strike rate of 150.4 in the first six overs.
Despite a lack of runs, Rohit reached a prominent milestone in the first T20I. He became the 10th batsman to score 1000 runs as captain. Rohit reached this landmark in just 29 innings, which is the fastest among the four Indians and the second fastest overall, behind Babar Azam (26).
The first over specialist
Time and time again, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has provided an opportunity in the first over of the innings. In the first T20I as well, he dismissed England’s skipper Jos Buttler, for a first ball duck.
In T20Is, this was Kumar’s 13th wicket in the first over of the innings, the joint-second most alongside David Willey. Only Bilal Khan from Oman has more wickets (16) in the first over. In addition, this was his 35th wicket in the first six overs. Only Tim Southee from New Zealand, has more wickets (42) in this phase.
Arshdeep off to a flying start
Sharing the ball alongside Kumar, Arshdeep Singh on debut, got the ball talking. With prodigious swing, Arshdeep started off his T20I career with a maiden to his name.
In T20Is, he became the second Indian after Ajit Agarkar in India’s first ever T20I against South Africa in 2006, to start his career with a maiden. Overall, he was only the fourth Indian bowler to have a maiden to his name in his debut innings. Khaleel Ahmed in 2018 and Navdeep Saini in 2019 against West Indies are the other two blowers.
Chris Jordan surpasses Rashid
Among the England bowlers, Chris Jordan was a class apart. While each of their bowlers conceded over 8.5 runs per over in this innings, Jordan returned with figures of 2/23 at an economy of 5.75.
With the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, his second, Jordan went past Adil Rashid’s tally of 81 wickets to become England’s most successful bowler in the shortest format.
An uncanny Roy innings
One among the fiercest openers in limited overs format, Jason Roy, struggled to get going in his innings in the first T20I. The swinging ball made Roy’s innings look even more horrendous.
In the 16 balls he lasted, Roy could score only four runs, a strike rate of just 25. In an innings of 15+ balls by an England batter, his strike rate is the worst.
