Twitter Reactions: All-rounders come to the party as India post 181 after a disastrous start

India's strategy to include multiple all-rounders in their playing XI paid dividends in the fourth T20I against England at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune as they recovered from a forgettable start to post a formidable total of 181/9 on Friday, January 31.

Jos Buttler won the toss for the first time in the series and opted to field first. Abhishek Sharma hit a four and a six to end the first over before Saqib Mahmood, playing his first match in the series, dismissed Sanju Smason and Tilak Varma off his first two deliveries. The right-arm speedster took the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav to end the over without conceding a run.

At 12/3, India had to consolidate and the partnership between Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma did just that. The two left-handed batters played counter-attacking cricket and added 45 runs for the fourth wicket. However, they were dismissed in quick succession. India slumped to 79/5 in the 11th over and needed all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube to resurrect the innings.

Dube, who was dropped on 0 by Buttler, was the more aggressive batter in the early goings of the partnership. Hardik played the waiting game as he scored just 14 runs off his first 17 balls. However, the Baroda cricketer changed gears incredibly well and notched up his half-century off just 27 balls. He departed in the 18th overs after playing a brilliant 53-run knock (30 balls), having stitched a crucial 87-run partnership off 45 deliveries with Dube.

The Mumbai all-rounder hit back-to-back boundaries in the following over to notch up a fifty in his comeback match off 31 balls. This was before Jamie Overton bowled a fine last over, conceding just three runs. Dube was run-out off the final delivery for a well-compiled 53 off 34 balls. Mahmood finished with a three-for, while Overton bagged a couple of wickets. Brydon Carse and Adil Rashid, meanwhile, chipped in with a wicket apiece.

Here's how 'X' users reacted to all the action from the first innings: