That's that! England win by eight wickets. After the bowlers were clinical in restricting India to 124, England's batsmen stood tall and didn't falter. It seemed like it was just a matter of time that England would chase the total down after the kind of start the openers gave them, blazing away to 72 off 8 overs. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler gave them the perfect start. Roy was living dangerously in the early overs, but steadied thereafter to find the boundaries at will. He cleared the ropes too a few times as India seemed to have no answers. Buttler (28) and Roy (49) fell en route, but Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan ensured no further damage was done. England go up 1-0 in the five-match series. Thank you for joining us today. Do join us for the second T20I on Sunday. Until then, goodbye.
India vs England, 1st T20I - Live Cricket Score, Commentary
Teams:
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal
England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
TOSS: England win toss, will bowl first.Oh, wait, we have something new here. Rohit Sharma has been rested for the first couple of games. Shikhar Dhawan will open with the KL Rahul. Bhuvneshwar returns. Iyer gets the No.4 spot ahead of Suryakumar, as expected.
For England, Mark Wood comes in for Tom Curran, while Moeen Ali misses out, surprisingly.
Pitch report:Good batting wicket, says Deep Das Gupta. Runs on it for all. But win toss and bat or chase? There could be dew, but there was none the last couple of days, says Agarkar.
We've not moved from the world's largest stadium in Ahmedabad, but we have switched formats. Much to England's relief, you'd think, given their struggles as the Test series went on. Hello and welcome to the first of five T20Is between a new-look England and India. England have been stellar in white-ball cricket in recent times and a change in format won't have England in whites on display with Eoin Morgan at the helm. England's limited-overs players seemed to be much in awe of the new stadium like everyone was when they first arrived at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The focus now shifts from the grandeur of it to the action in the middle.
It's the top-two ranked teams that will be taking on each other. Going by the pre-match chatter, India thinks England will be the team to beat, while England think vice versa. It will come down to getting their combinations right ahead of the T20 World Cup slated for later in the year, of which this is preparation, given that a) the tournament will be played in India, and b) this is India's last T20I series scheduled ahead of the global tournament.
The last two T20I series that these two sides played, India have gotten the better of England with a 2-1 scoreline. The second of which was during the English summer of 2018, which is also the last time that England lost a T20I series. Can they continue their form of run in the white-ball formats? Or will India continue to have the wood over them, especially in home conditions? We'll find out.
ICYMI: Here's our preview for the series by Rob Johnson. Do have a read while we wait for live action.
Team news:
India: Shikhar Dhawan will be left out in favour of vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opening with KL Rahul confirmed Indian Virat Kohli on the eve of the game. Rishabh Pant, given his stellar form, will also make a return. Who between Shreyas Iyer and uncapped Suryakumar Yadav will get the No. 4 spot?
In the bowling department, Varun Chakravarthy will miss a series once again after Australia, after failing his fitness test. A cloud of doubt surrounds Rahul Tewatia too on fitness grounds. T Natarajan also won't be available for the opener as he is tending to a niggle at the NCA.
India are missing Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, they see the return of the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. And you'd think Axar > Washington to pair up with Chahal?
England: For England, Jofra Archer is likely to return after the elbow injury he sustained during the Tests as will Moeen Ali. There's a war between the Curran brothers for a spot in the XI - will Sam or Tom get the nod?