India Vs England

Kishan, opening the innings in place of Shikhar Dhawan who was benched, hammered four sixes and five fours in his innings and made easy work of the 165-run target that England had set up. At the time of his dismissal – leg-before to Adil Rashid, India needed just 71 in 10 overs.

India captain Virat Kohli said that opener Shikhar Dhawan and all-rounder Axar Patel have been dropped for debutants Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, respectively. Meanwhile, England have brought in all-rounder Tom Curran in place of fast bowler Mark Wood, who captain Eoin Morgan said is recovering from a niggle. England currently lead the five-match series 1-0.

The visiting England side first restricted India to 124 for seven in their 20 overs before coasting to the 125-run target in 15.3 overs to win the first game of the five-match series. The second T20 between the two sides will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

"All COVID-19 guidelines are being strictly adhered to and special task force committees have been set up to ensure that all required safety measures are implemented and followed," said the GCA. The first T20I will be followed by the second match on March 14, the third on March 16, the fourth T20I on March 18 and the fifth on March 20.

The visiting Englishmen who lost the four-match Test series 3-1 are now looking to restore pride under skipper Eoin Morgan, who leads the white ball sides in the five T20Is and three ODIs after taking over from Test captain Joe Root.

After Rishabh Pant had tilted the scales in favour of the hosts with an awesome century on Friday, Washington Sundar (96 not out) and Axar Patel (43) rubbed it in further, staying at the crease for one-and-a-half hour that blew away whatever hopes England had of making a comeback on Friday evening.

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes then propped up the England innings, putting up a partnership of 44 runs to see them through to lunch. Bairstow was on 28 while Stokes had made 24 runs when the umpires led the players back into the pavilion.

The visitors are trailing the series 2-1 and are looking to draw level while India are looking to avoid defeat and qualify for the World Test Championship final. Both India and England have struggled in the last two Tests with the bat, although India have been a shade better than England.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that the reason for the match ending inside two days is that the batsmen were unable to play spin rather than the pitch. England batting great Geoffrey Boycott said that it was a simple case of India being better than England.

This is only the second time that a Test match in India has finished inside two days. The first one happened against Afghanistan in 2018, which was also the first-ever Test for the Afghans. In Test cricket history, this was only the 22nd Test that finished inside two days.