India vs England: Washington Sundar and Jonny Bairstow engage in heated exchange during first T20I

England, on Friday, beat India by eight wickets in the first T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad to take the lead in the five-match series. The game did not really live up to expectations as world number one England beat world number two India with ease in the lopsided contest. Right from the toss till the end, almost everything fell in place for the visitors.

Bowling first, England restricted India to a modest total of 124 for 7. The tourists started well with the ball and had India reeling at 20 for 3 in five overs. Shikhar Dhawan (4), KL Rahul (1), and Virat Kohli (0) failed to deliver at the top, and India never really recovered from those setbacks. The likes of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya got starts but failed to guide to a good total.

India managed to cross the 100-run mark mainly because of Shreyas Iyer’s fighting knock of 67. The score was never going to be enough against a team like England and they showed it in style. The Eoin Morgan-led side chased down the total inside 16 overs by losing just two wickets. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler gave England a flying start by adding 72 runs for the first wicket before Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan took the team home.

Washington Sundar, Jonny Bairstow engage in a heated exchange

The first T20I was marred by the heated exchange between Washington Sundar and Jonny Bairstow during England’s innings. The duo was involved in the furious exchange over an alleged obstruction incident. The incident happened in the 14th over of the England innings when the tourists needed just 11 runs to win the game.

Malan chipped Sundar’s delivery to the bowler’s left and the right-arm spinner went for the catch. But before he could get close to the ball, Bairstow came between him and the ball while turning his back towards Sundar. The ball hit Bairstow on the helmet as he was turning to get back in the crease and Sundar could not catch the ball.

The India star was not at all happy and said something to Bairstow while going to collect the ball. But Bairstow was not ready to listen to Sundar’s complaint silently as he too hit back at the bowler. Sundar even let out a loud shout of f**k before a surprised Bairstow replied to the spinner. But before things could get out of control umpire Nitin Menon intervened and separated the players.

Here is a clip of the incident:

pic.twitter.com/N0pg73JXfX

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