England's Strong Fight Ends in Defeat as India Win by 7 Wickets in New Era of White-Ball Cricket

England's Strong Fight Ends in Defeat as India Win by 7 Wickets in New Era of White-Ball Cricket

Under former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, England's new era in white-ball cricket began with a tough defeat against India. In the first T20 match in Kolkata, England's old weakness against India's spinners resurfaced, and they were bowled out for just 132 runs.

Early on, England's batsmen struggled to form any solid resistance against India's attack. Arshdeep Singh dismissed Phil Salt for a duck off just three balls, and Ben Duckett also fell in his first two overs. In the middle order, England's batsmen were undone by India's spinners, and the innings collapsed severely.

Captain Jos Buttler played a lone hand, scoring 68 runs off 44 balls, but Harry Brook was the next highest scorer with just 17 runs. Brook was bowled out by the superb Varun Chakravarthy in the seventh over, who then dismissed Liam Livingstone for a duck two balls later. England's run rate slowed down significantly, and they began losing wickets quickly.

Jacob Bethell struggled to score just 7 runs off 14 balls, Jamie Overton could only manage 2 runs at number seven, and Gus Atkinson fell for 2 runs off 12 balls. Chakravarthy returned in the 17th over to dismiss Buttler, effectively ending England's hopes for a big finish. Chakravarthy was exceptional, taking 3 wickets for just 23 runs.

Jofra Archer impressed with 2 wickets for 21 runs, but India's chase was easy, with the hosts sealing a comfortable 7-wicket victory with 43 balls to spare. Abhishek Sharma's explosive 79 off 34 balls put India well ahead, and they wrapped up the match with ease. This was England's heaviest T20 defeat in terms of deliveries remaining.

The second T20 match in the five-match series is scheduled for Saturday in Chennai.