India vs England: KL Rahul makes a stunning effort to save four runs for India in first T20I

The first T20 International of the five-match series at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium saw visiting skipper Eoin Morgan winning the toss and electing to bowl first. The contest saw India going with the opening partnership of KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan as Rohit Sharma was rested for a couple of games. Both Rahul and Dhawan had a disastrous outing with the willow as they went back to the pavilion after scoring just 1 and 4 runs respectively.

Team India skipper Virat Kohli also had a bad outing as he registered a five-ball duck. Though young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant showed some courage and got a good start, he failed to convert it into something big and returned back to the pavilion after scoring 21 runs off 23 deliveries.

Shreyas Iyer, who came to bat at Number 5, showed character and played a sublime knock of 67 runs off 48 deliveries including eight boundaries and one maximum at a strike rate of 139.58. However, he didn’t get support from other batsmen and India collapsed at a below-par total of 124 runs while losing seven wickets in 20 overs.

KL Rahul does the unthinkable to save runs for India

In reply, England had a dream start as they collected a stunning 29 runs in just 4 overs. The fifth over saw the Indian skipper handing the ball to Axar Patel as India badly needed a wicket to stay in the chase after a confident start from England.

Jos Buttler faced the first ball off the fifth over and he came down the pitch but didn’t get close to the ball and went through a lofted drive. The ball went high in the sky and was all set to land on the other side of the boundary rope but KL Rahul, who was standing right in front of the ropes, dived backward and took a stunning catch. He held the ball for long but managed to throw it inside the boundary line before touching the ground to save four runs for his team.

What an Effort from KL Rahul to save a 6 😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/k7hKiVGXNm

— Pranjal (@pranjal__one8) March 12, 2021

The commendable fielding effort by KL Rahul definitely won the hearts of many.