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England finally hold the upper hand on their tour of India and will be looking for their first series victory before heading home in the second T20 at Nagpur. Join The Roar for live scores of the match from 12:30am (AEDT).
There’s no beating around the bush here – the tour of India has been an absolute disaster for England, with match after match going against them, the tide of momentum simply not able to be adjusted or turned.
It started with a 3-0 thumping in the Test series after England managed to edge a draw out of the first match, before they were beaten soundly in the one-day series, losing it with a match to spare.
They finally got their first win on tour in the third match of the one-day series at Kolkata, taking it by five-runs in an absolute thriller.
The tourists managed to carry that good form over to the T20 series though, taking the first match and being able to lead a series for the first time against India.
It’s not as if India played poorly in that match but rather, England bowled incredibly well and then backed it up with the bat to get o the scoreboard first.
After winning the toss and electing to field, India made a reasonable start as Virat Kohli came out to open the batting, the hosts sitting on 3 for 75 at the end of ten overs.
From there though, it was a regular stream of wickets as Moeen Ali went without luck, but bowled economically to end with the figures of 2 for 21 from his four overs.
It put the pressure on the batsmen when facing everyone else and India simply failed to accelerate, ending the innings at 7 for 147 with MS Dhoni top-scoring for 36 not out.
England then got the chase off to a dominant start, dropping the first wicket in the fourth over but with the score already on 42, Jason Roy and Sam Billings trying to get as far in front of the required run rate as possible.
Joe Root would then anchor the innings, ending 46 not out at a run-a-ball while Joe Root made a half century at a solid clip from the other end, England eventually passing the target three wickets down with 11 balls to spare in a comfortable victory.
T20 is such a fickle game though, and England will need to have more than a Moeen Ali inspired performance to get the job done.
Because they weren’t chasing all that much, Root and Morgan were able to ease their way into things, which could see them under a lot more pressure this time around. With Kohli and Dhoni looking in good form, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know England’s victory may not be repeated.
Prediction
England were good in Game 1, but it’s hard to see India’s powerful batting order being kept quiet twice in a row.
India to level the series.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of the match from 12:30am (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde