Kuldeep, Rahul dismantles England to go 1-0 up in the series

Kuldeep Yadav's 5 for 24 and a sizzling 101* off 54 balls from KL Rahul helped India to take a 1-0 lead in 3-match T20I series after they comprehensively beat England by 8-wickets at Old Trafford on Tuesday, July 3.

Earlier in this match, India had won the toss and opted to field first. England got off to a solid start and reached their fifty in just 5th over. At one stage they were all set to score big at 106 for 2 after 13 overs. But it was Kuldeep Yadav who changed the game completely in space of 6 balls. He took 3-wickets in 14 over and left England in an awful situation at 109 for 5 after 14.



Jos Buttler who has been in the sensational form since IPL continued his form in this match also and scored another half-century. He got out in the 18 over of the innings after scoring 69 off 46 balls.

David Willey played a quickfire cameo of 29* off 15 balls and helped his side to reach to 159 after 20 overs. Kuldeep Yadav was the stand out performer for India while Umesh Yadav also bowled well and finished his spell with 4-0-21-2.

In reply of 160, India lost an early wicket as David Willey clean bowled Shikhar Dhawan in first over the innings. He scored only 4 off 4 balls. Virat Kohli who used to bat at No.3 sent KL Rahul ahead of him and that proved to be a masterstroke. Rahul continued his red-hot form and smashed his second T20I century off just 53 balls.



Rahul played with an aggressive mindset and didn't allow any bowler to settle while his partner Rohit Sharma was happy to give him a strike. Both put on a match-winning partnership of 123 off 71 balls before Sharma got out on 32 off 30 balls. With 30 runs needed off 44 balls, the match had already done and dusted for India. Kohli finished the game in style with a six to Moeen Ali over long on. He remained unbeaten on 20 off 22 balls.

England didn't have much success with the ball. Adil Rashid who dismissed Rohit was the standout bowler for England. He finished his spell with 1 for 25 in his 4 overs while David Willey who provided the first wicket to England gave away 30 runs in 4 overs.

Kuldeep Yadav became the first left-arm wrist spinner to take 5-wickets haul in T20I and was awarded Man Of The Match for his match-winning spell. The second T20I will be played on Friday, July 6 at Cardiff.

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