KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan hammered scintillating fifties after Mohammed Shami’s 3-wicket burst as India registered a 7-wicket win over England in their first warm-up match of the ICC T20 World Cup. Kishan smashed an unbeaten 46-ball 70, while KL Rahul (51 off 24) and Rishabh Pant (29 off 14) also chipped in as India chased down 189 with six balls to spare.
Stay updated with Times of India to get all the live cricket score updates of 2021 T20 World Cup warm-up match between India and England.Kishan, who might have to sit out if he is not playing as an opener, did his case no harm once Rahul was gone as he punished the spinners, including a dazzling six, coming down the track off Adil Rashid. India in the first game ticked some boxes that includes two senior pacers Jasprit Bumrah (1/26) and Mohammed Shami (3/40) hitting the straps straightaway with some fast and accurate deliveries.
The third angle to this ‘triangle’ — Bhuvneshwar Kumar, however, consistently missed the length giving away 54 runs in four overs. Kohli (11) didn’t score much but that would be least of concerns for the Indian team. Rishabh Pant (29 not out, 14 balls) smashed the bowlers, while Suryakumar Yadav (8 off 8 balls) did look a bit scratchy during his brief stay. Hardik Pandya, who is supposed to be the “designated finisher” in this line-up, came to the crease with 21 needed off 15 balls and he hit a few streaky shots in his 12 not out in 10 balls.
The England batters also threw their willows around to get some quality time in the middle on a good surface at the ICC Academy ground here after being put in to bat. Veteran Shami bowled the fuller lengths and also mixed it with clever variations as he got wickets of openers Jason Roy (17 off 13 balls), Jos Buttler (18 off 13 balls) and Liam Livingstone (30 off 20 balls). Buttler was done in by change of pace where the length was slightly shortened and pace taken off after being hit for two boundaries, while Livingstone was castled by an old-fashioned yorker.
The Indian team is pretty certain that Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy are the two spinners who will be in operation when the campaign starts. The two had also played an IPL final just few days back along with play-off games and hence both were rested.
While Chahar removed ICC’s World No 1 ranked T20 batter Dawid Malan (18 off 18 balls) with a googly, he wasn’t as consistent with his length as Ashwin, who went wicket-less but wasn’t punished as such. However unlike Chahar, who at times looked penetrative, the English batters didn’t have much of a problem in milking Ashwin for the singles and some inside out shots over extra-cover.
In all, India had a good outing, exactly how they would have wanted in a warm-up game.Indian bowling except ashwin looks rusty and management want them to be in form becore high voltage indo- pak clash.
