England vs India 1st T20I: How India halted England’s winning juggernaut?

England were waiting to replicate their success story against India but, England found the visitors a tougher fight and lost by 8 wickets at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Tuesday.

Backing on power-hitting of KL Rahul and lethal wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav, India registered a win against England to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Sent into bat at 1 down, Rahul smashed an unbeaten 101 off 54 balls which included 10 fours and five sixes to stitch a 123-run second run wicket stand with opener Rohit Sharma (32 off 30 balls).

As Kuldeep Yadav returned with his T20I career-best 5 for 24 in the first match,  KL Rahul joined Rohit Sharma to become the second-batsmen to hit two tons in T20Is.

Kuldeep Yadav also became the first chinaman bowler to return with a five-for in the shortest format.

Also Read: Virat Kohli becomes the fastest to score 2000 T20I runs

After the bowlers managed to restrict the hosts to 159 for 8 and India chased the target in 18.2 overs.

"I focused on varying my pace and the flight of my deliveries."@imkuldeep18 explains how he ran through the England batting at Old Trafford.#ENGvIND REACTION ⬇️https://t.co/fwi0ApGQE5 pic.twitter.com/qlF0qmaAQt

— ICC (@ICC) July 4, 2018

After Dhawan got dismissed for 4, KL Rahul came to bat and continued his stellar form.

India’s second wicket fell in the fourth ball of 12 over as Rohit Sharma got dismissed after scoring 32 runs.

Skipper Virat Kohli got in at no. 4 and guided India towards victory in 18.2 overs.

“When a player like KL Rahul gets going, it is very difficult to stop him. Kuldeep is a wonderful bowler and we knew that he could be a big threat for us. Now, we need to assess it and get back in the next game,” said England captain Eoin Morgan.

"We need to be a bit better with the way we go about our business" – @Eoin16 concedes that England were below-par in first T20I against India.#ENGvIND REACTION ⬇️https://t.co/wNRvRoZnQi pic.twitter.com/ZEC6PBOaj3

— ICC (@ICC) July 4, 2018

When India skipper Virat Kohli was asked about his decision of promoting Rahul ahead of him in the batting line-up, he said, “Just looking at all the skills of our team and the way we played today gives me a lot of pleasure. Some of the younger guys stepping up to take the lead please us as well.”

“We are trying different combinations and shuffling around keeping the World Cup in mind and that’s why Rahul went in at three and I went in at four,” he added.

Special touch from @klrahul11. Making batting look very easy. A combination of great balance and good temperament. #ENGvIND

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2018