India vs England: Jos Buttler's side fall to emphatic seven-wicket defeat in first T20I – Sky Sports

Cricket
England were bundled out for just 132 with Jos Buttler’s 68 the highest score; India’s Varun Chakravarthy took a three-for; Jofra Archer struck twice in one over but hosts dominated reaching the target in only 12.5 overs.
Sports Journalist
Wednesday 22 January 2025 16:47, UK
England’s new white-ball era under Brendon McCullum began in defeat as the tourists fell to a heavy seven-wicket defeat against a rampant India side in the opening T20I at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
England were bowled out for just 132 after being put into bat in Kolkata having slipped to 65-4 early on.
Captain Jos Buttler’s 68 from 44 balls was the only score of note as wickets consistently fell around him.
In reply, India powered to 133 with seven overs to spare as Abhishek Sharma (79) raced to a 20-ball half-century, reaching his milestone with a maximum over fine leg.
The hosts take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series with the second T20 in Chennai on Saturday.
England’s struggles began as soon as openers Phil Salt (0) and Ben Duckett (4) were dismissed by Arshdeep Singh (2-17) early on whilst Liam Livingstone (0) and Harry Brook (17) were also dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy (3-23) in the same over after Book and Buttler had tried to mount a fightback.
But wickets fell regularly as Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel also took two each.
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India wasted no time in the run chase despite Jofra Archer (2-21) striking twice in one over to remove Sanju Samson (26) and India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav (0) to leave them 41-2.
Adil Rashid (1-27) earned the prized scalp of Sharma in the 12th over, who struck five fours and eight sixes before he fell with only eight more runs required for victory.
More to follow…
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