Ahmedabad, March 12: Indian batsmen had little to offer in the face of a regimented English bowling effort on a two-paced track as the hosts received an eight-wicket hammering in the opening Twenty20 International here on Friday.
Indian batsmen struggled to score freely before Shreyas Iyer showed the way with a dogged 67-run knock that took Virat Kohli’s men to 124 for seven at the Narendra Modi stadium.
In the absence of scoreboard pressure, England overhauled the target with ease in 15.3 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
“We just weren’t aware of what we had to do on that pitch, lack of execution on our shots is something we have to address. Accept your faults, come back with more intent, clarity of areas you want to hit,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.
“Wicket didn’t allow us to hit the shots we wanted to,” he added.
The Indian batsmen never got the momentum going as England’s pace-heavy attack, led by Mark Wood, used the extra bounce effectively to trouble them.
Most of the Indian batsmen went for flashy shots when placement would have served them well, as Iyer did later in the innings.
Jason Roy scored a well-calculated 49-run knock while Jonny Bairstow’s big hits showed there were no demons in the pitch as the Indians made it seem after being invited to bat by England skipper Eoin Morgan.
Roy struck the ball clean and hard to form a 72-run opening wicket stand with Jos Buttler (28), ending any hopes that the Indians harboured of getting back in the game. The luxury of time allowed the England batsmen to play freely. None of the Indian bowlers looked like asking tough questions to the visitors.
Earlier, after India’s top-order was blown away, Iyer gauged the nature of the pitch quickly and adjusted his game accordingly, playing a sensible innings that helped them cross the 100-run mark. (PTI)
