Twitter Reactions: England wallop India to take a 1-0 lead in the T20I series

England, on Friday, thrashed India by 8 wickets in the first T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to take the lead in the five-match series. Chasing a modest target of 125, the visitors crossed the finishing line in the 16th over. Jason Roy top-scored for the visitors, scoring 49 runs at the top to lay the foundation for an easy chase.

With only 124 runs to defend, India needed early wickets to have any chance of clawing their way back into the game. However, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler completely dashed their hopes. The duo came out all guns blazing and shared 72 runs for the first wicket to all but seal the game for the tourists. Yuzvendra Chahal gave India the first breakthrough when he dismissed Buttler for 28.

17 runs later, Washington Sundar dismissed Jason Roy for 49 before Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow took England home in the 16th over. Malan finished the proceedings in style by smashing Sundar for a six. He remained unbeaten on 16 while Bairstow scored 25.

India’s struggle with the bat

Earlier in the match, Team India came up with a poor display with the bat after being asked to bat first. The Men in Blue could only manage 124 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Eoin Morgan’s decision to bowl first was totally justified by his bowlers as they made light work of India’s strong top-order. KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan could not even touch the double-digit mark as India found themselves 3 down for just 20 in 5 overs.

Jofra Archer provided England the first breakthrough by dismissing Rahul for 1 before Adil Rashid accounted for Kohli. The India skipper was out for a 5-ball duck. Dhawan failed to get going too and was castled for just 4 by Mark Wood. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant stopped the rot for a while but could not rescue the team as the latter departed for just 21, leaving India reeling at 48 for 4.

Iyer and Hardik Pandya then took the score past the 100-run mark but could not accelerate the run-rate. India eventually ended their innings on a modest total of 124 for 7. Iyer was the top-scorer for the hosts, scoring 67 off 48 balls with the help of 8 fours and six. For England, Archer was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 23 off his four overs.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match: