Abhishek Sharma’s blitz helps India outclass England by 7 wickets in first T20I

Abhishek made England pay for a dropped catch as he hit five fours and eight sixes during his hurricane 34-ball innings

Kolkata: Abhishek Sharma struck a magnificent 79 off 34 balls as India beat England by seven wickets in the first T20 International here on Wednesday.

Chasing a paltry 133 for a win, India overhauled the target with 43 balls to spare as they reached 133 for 3 in just 12.5 overs. Abhishek made England pay for a dropped catch as he hit five fours and eight sixes during his hurricane 34-ball innings. His opening partner Sanju Samson made 26 off 20 balls.

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Earlier, India bowled England out for 132 in 20 overs after the visitors were asked to bat by home team captain Suryakumar Yadav. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy (3/23) was the most successful Indian bowler while seamer Arshdeep Singh (2/17), Axar Patel (2/22) and Hardik Pandya (2/42) chipped in with two wickets apiece. For England, captain Jos Buttler played a lone hand with 68 off 44 balls.

Scorecard

England

Phil Salt †c †Samson b Arshdeep Singh 0 (3b), Ben Duckett c Singh b Arshdeep Singh 4 (4b, 1×4), Jos Buttler (c) c Nitish Kumar Reddy b Varun 68 (44b, 8×4, 2×6), Harry Brook b Varun 17 (14b, 2×4, 1×6), Liam Livingstone b Varun 0 (2b), Jacob Bethell c Abhishek Sharma b Pandya 7 (14b), Jamie Overton c Nitish Kumar Reddy b Patel 2 (4b), Gus Atkinson st †Samson b Patel 2 (13b), Jofra Archer c Yadav b Pandya 12 (10b, 1×4), Adil Rashid no 8 (11b, 1×4), Mark Wood run out (†Samson) 1 (1b); Extras: (b 5, lb 1, w 5) 11; Total: (All out in 20 overs) 132; Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-17, 3-65, 4-65, 5-83, 6-95, 7-103, 8-109, 9-130, 10-132; Bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-17-2, Hardik Pandya 4-0-42-2, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-23-3, Axar Patel 4-1-22-2, Ravi Bishnoi 4-0-22-0

India

Sanju Samson †c Atkinson b Archer 26 (20b, 4×4, 1×6), Abhishek Sharma c Brook b Rashid 79 (34b, 5×4, 8×6), Suryakumar Yadav (c) c †Salt b Archer 0 (3b), Tilak Varma no 19 (16b, 3×4), Hardik Pandya no 3 (4b); Extras: (b 4, lb 1, w 1) 6; Total: (For 3 wkts in 12.5 overs) 133; Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-41, 3-125; Bowling: Jofra Archer 4-0-21-2, Gus Atkinson 2-0-38-0, Mark Wood 2.5-0-25-0; Adil Rashid 2-0-27-1, Jamie Overton 1-0-10-0, Liam Livingstone 1-0-7-0