New Delhi: Team India defeated England by seven wickets in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 23. The hosts take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.

The Indian bowlers performed brilliantly in the opening game and helped the team to deliver a dominant performance against Jos Buttler and Co.

Asked to bat first, the visitors bowled out for 132 runs in the 20 overs. Captain Jos Buttler scored 68 runs off 44 balls with the help of two maximums and eight boundaries but other England batters failed to make any contribution to the scoreboard. Varun Chakaravarthy took 3 wickets while Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel also picked up two wickets each.

The Men in Blue chased down the 133-run target easily in 12.5 overs. Opener Abhishek Sharma shined with the bat, scoring 79 runs off just 34 balls with the help of 5 boundaries and 8 maximums. Sanju Samson also got a good start but he failed to capitalise on it and departed for 26 runs. The second T20I is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 28 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Hardik Pandya surpasses Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in elite list

The all-rounder picked up two wickets in the first T20I against England and surpassed Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the list of Indian bowlers with the most wickets in the shortest format of the game.

Before the start of the match, Hardik Pandya was in the fifth position on the list with 89 wickets. He was equal with Bumrah on wickets and one wicket away from Bhuvneshwar’s record. He removed Jacob Bethel and Jofra Archer to surpass both the legendary Indian bowlers.

He is now third on the list and still behind Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh. Meanwhile, Fast bowler Arshdeep Singh broke Chahal’s record to become India’s all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is.