Cricket lovers got to see a memorable match in the first T20 match played between England and India. This match was played on 22 January 2025 at Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. In this match, India won by 7 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. England’s batting and the brilliant performance of the Indian team will remind us of this match.
Start of the match: England captain Jos Buttler elected to bat first. However, his decision did not prove to be favorable to the team. England batsmen were already tied down by the Indian bowlers taking full advantage of the little help on the pitch.
England’s innings: England’s team had a slow start. In the first over, Arshdeep Singh clean bowled opener Jason Roy. England’s innings failed even after this. But captain Jos Buttler stepped up and scored a brilliant half-century. His score was 68 runs, which included four fours and three sixes.
Other England batsmen could not stand against the Indian bowlers. Varun Charitra showed his spin magic and took three important wickets. Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel also took two wickets each in 20 overs and restricted England to 132 runs.
India’s reply innings: The Indian team got off to a great start, chasing the target of 133 runs. Openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma played aggressively from the very first over. Despite Gill being dismissed early, Abhishek Sharma continued to score runs with his bat. He scored 79 runs in 34 balls. Abhishek Sharma hit eight brilliant sixes and four fours in this innings. The match was completely in India’s favor, as they batted so early. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were dismissed early in the middle order, but Tilak Verma scored an unbeaten 19 runs to lead the team to victory.
Indian bowlers performed well in this match. Varun Chakravarthy took many important wickets with his economical bowling. At the same time, Akshar Patel and Arshdeep Singh troubled the England batsmen with their accurate line-length.
Player of the Match: Varun Chakravarthy was named the player of the match for his brilliant bowling performance. He took three wickets for just 19 runs in four overs.
Indian team’s consecutive victory: Kolkata’s Eden Gardens is a lucky place for India. With this victory, the Indian team has won the seventh consecutive T20 match on this ground. After the match, captain Suryakumar Yadav said that the victory was achieved due to the united efforts of the team.
Future schedule: The Indian team is now getting ready for the second T20 match to be played in Chennai on 25 January. The team’s confidence has increased with this victory. In order to make a comeback in the series, the England team will have to reconsider their strategy.
Conclusion: This match was a great example of all forms of bowling, batting and fielding between India and England. The Indian team dominated England in every area and enthralled the audience. Now all eyes are on the next match, where England will try to make a comeback in the series and India will want to increase its lead.