India’s Abhishek Sharma plays a shot against England during the T20 Match at the Eden Garden in Kolkata on January 22, 2025.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
Varun Chakaravarthy wove his spin magic at the Eden Gardens — his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders’ backyard — and opener Abhishek Sharma cracked a blistering half-century as India thrashed England by seven wickets in the first of the five-match T20I series in Kolkata on Wednesday.
After restricting the visitor to a modest 132, the host rushed to the target in 12.5 overs, much to the joy of a packed house.
India was off to a rollicking start, plundering 63 in the PowerPlay despite losing two wickets to Jofra Archer in the fifth over.
Sanju Samson (26), who utilised his gift of timing to hammer 22 off Gus Atkinson’s first over, provided the ignition before ill-timing a pull. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav miscued one to the leg side.
The two blows could not deter Abhishek (79, 34b, 5×4, 8×6), who treated Mark Wood with disdain — hammering successive sixes over fine-leg and third-man and a straight four in the sixth over.
The southpaw used his feet well against spinner Adil Rashid. He hoisted Rashid over mid-wicket and long-on and Jamie Overton over fine-leg as he completed his half-century in just 20 deliveries. He fell to Rashid when the target was in sight.
Earlier, Mohammed Shami’s wait to return to international cricket got longer as Suryakumar chose to field three spinners amid speculation split over the pacer’s form and fitness, and India’s tactics.
With plenty of dew on the field and the prospect of the pitch playing slow and the ball skidding, India opted to field.
Arshdeep Singh extracted impressive seam movement and bowled in good areas to strike in quick succession. The third delivery of the match surprised Phil Salt even before he could open his account. Salt’s leading edge went miles up in the air before Samson calmly accepted the catch. In Arshdeep’s next over, Ben Duckett, looking to play on the onside, only managed to get a leading edge.
Rinku Singh, posted at cover, ran back to take a spectacular high catch and help Arshdeep become the country’s top wicket-taker in T20Is, overtaking Yuzvendra Chahal’s tally of 96 scalps.
Unperturbed, captain Jos Buttler (68, 44b, 8×4, 2×6) batted aggressively, choosing Hardik Pandya for special treatment, as he added 48 quick runs with Harry Brook.
Varun (three for 23) displayed his control over flight and spin to scalp two in his second over. Brook, who had problems in reading the spinner, played for the turn but inside-edged one onto his pads and the stumps. Liam Livingstone was also bowled in a similar fashion.
Hardik removed Jacob Bethell and Axar Patel claimed the wickets of Overton and Atkinson in consecutive overs. The wicketless Ravi Bishnoi kept it tight to apply more pressure.
The one-man show of Buttler — who showcased his range of shots and placement skills on both sides — ended as he pulled Varun to Nitish Reddy in the 17th over.
All this proved inconsequential once Abhishek took over.
Published – January 23, 2025 04:37 am IST
