SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) – An inspired all-round show from Hardik Pandya fired India to an emphatic 50-run win over England in the first Twenty20 of their three-match series at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday.
India made a flying start after opting to bat, with Deepak Hooda (33) and Suryakumar Yadav (39) taking a liking to the English attack before Pandya (51) chipped in with his maiden fifty in the shortest format and guided India to 198-8.
Things had looked even worse for the hosts with Pandya in full flow but fine death bowling from Tymal Mills (1-35) and Chris Jordan (2-23) dragged them back into the game and kept India under 200.
In reply, the touring side got an early boost when Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-10) removed new captain Jos Buttler for nought and Pandya (4-33) got rid of Liam Livingstone (0) and Jason Roy (4) in quick succession to leave England reeling at 33-4.
Harry Brook (28) and Moeen Ali (36) tried to revive England in the middle overs but both fell to the leg-spin of Yuzvendra Chahal (2-32) as the loss of regular wickets meant the home side were bowled out for 148 in 19.3 overs.
The teams head to Edgbaston for the second match of the series on Saturday.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
