India vs England: Buttler and Co crumble to spinners... again

CHENNAI: England have not had a good time in white-ball cricket in India in recent times. At the 50-over World Cup in 2023, the champion's defence went up in flames multiple times as both their batters and bowlers faltered. Their performances over six weeks had led to a lot of soul-searching but it didn't result in a lot of changes save the removal of a few personnel.

Fourteen months later, not a lot has changed. Brendon McCullum, the man tasked with changing the fortunes in the white-ball set-up these days, will now know the scale of work he has to do if the first of the five-match T20I series against India is anything to go by.

After being asked to bat first, the England batters crumbled to the spinners — a sentence written so many times — in an utterly predictable manner. Varun Chakravarthy, unlucky to miss out on India's Champions Trophy squad, proved his credentials once again with figures of 3/23 across four overs. Together, the hosts' spinners conceded 5/67 in a bewitching 12-over spell as England were bundled out for 132.

Their problems against the finger-spinners is a well documented one and if they are remain competitive in the remaining four games, they will have to address this issue head. What also didn't help them was Arshdeep Singh's early purchase with the new ball.

With Jasprit Bumrah nursing a dodgy back and Mohammed Shami being eased in after a lengthy lay-off, the left-armer was given the new ball. And he delivered like he has almost always done — he extracted movement and it accounted for Phil Salt (0) and Ben Duckett (4) inside the first three overs. In the process, he had also become India's leading wicket-taker in the format, further underlining his importance to this team.

With lots of dew around, a target of 133 was never going to be enough. But there was still the question of whether Suryakumar Yadav & Co. would stay true to the exciting brand of cricket they showcased in South Africa.

The answer was most definitely yes as the focus was on run-scoring, boundary-hitting rather than conservation at the top. Abhishek Sharma, who's quickly making a name for himself at the top, was full of life during his 34-ball 79. It was the fulcrum around which the hosts' chase revolved before they knocked off the runs with seven wickets and 43 balls to spare.

Brief scores: England 132 in 20 ovs (Buttler 68, Arshdeep 2/17, Hardik 2/42, Varun 3/23, Axar 2/22) lost to India 133/3 in 12.5 ovs (Abhishek 79, Samson 26, Archer 2/21).