Kolkata, Jan 22 (IANS) Abhishek Sharma smashed a scintillating 79 to help India chase down 133 inside 13 overs and beat England by seven wickets in the T20I series opener at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday. The result also helped India go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
After wrist-spinner Varun Chakravarthy shone with figures of 3-23 as India’s bowlers put in a magnificent performance to bowl out England for just 132, Abhishek provided an absolute masterclass on opening the batting in the shortest format, hitting five boundaries and eight sixes in his 34-ball stay.
He mixed finesse and brute force in getting 68 out of 79 runs from boundaries and played a leading role in getting a comprehensive win for India. India’s chase began on a bright note as Sanju Samson hit four boundaries and a six in the second over to take 22 runs off Gus Atkinson.
Abhishek got off the mark by flaying and carving Jofra Archer over the off-side for four and six respectively. But Archer bounced back as he rushed Samson on the pull and had him caught at deep mid-wicket. One brought two for the pacer as Suryakumar gave a leading edge on the pull and was caught out for a two-ball duck.
From there on, the Abhishek show began as he flicked, carved, and smashed Mark Wood for two sixes and a four. After being dropped by Adil Rashid off his own bowling, Abhishek cut, flicked, and dispatched the leg-spinner for one four and two sixes. He then reached his fifty in 20 balls by hooking Jamie Overton for six.
Abhishek’s carnage continued as he lofted Liam Livingstone for four, before smashing Atkinson for three boundaries. After lofting Rashid with the spin over extra cover for six and being dropped on the very next ball, Abhishek’s entertaining knock ended when he mistimed a googly to long-off. Tilak Varma hit three boundaries in his unbeaten 16-ball 19, including the winning run, to complete India’s chase with 43 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
England 132 al out in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 68; Varun Chakaravarthy 3-23, Arshdeep Singh 2-17) lost to India 133/3 in 12.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 79; Jofra Archer 2-21) by seven wickets
–IANS
nr/bsk/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
