Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed to get rid of the dangerous Jos Buttler with a booming inswinger in the first over of the second innings. Chasing 199 runs to win the first T20I of the three-match series, England were soon reduced to 52/4 in the eighth over at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Thursday.
Bowling the first over of the innings, Bhuvi swung it both ways before dismissing Buttler on the fifth ball. The English skipper was gone for a golden duck.
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Kumar started the over with four outswingers to opener Jason Roy, who ultimately managed to take one run and bring Buttler on strike. This time, the swing bowler curled the ball sharply towards the stumps. Buttler, who looked to play a flick, missed the line and was taken by surprise as the ball brushed into his bad and crashed into the stumps. He was gone without scoring.
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled 67 balls at Jos Buttler in T20Is and has given 64 runs, dismissing the attacking opener four times. The match-up worked well for India on Thursday. Soon after the skipper was dismissed, England lost Dawid Malan to a length ball by Hardik Pandya. Hard-hitter Liam Livingstone fell in the same over and Jason Roy a few balls later. The hosts were reduced to 45/4 by the end of the seventh over.
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Pandya, who scored his first T20I half-century in the first innings, led India’s efforts with three scalps to his name.
Batting first, India produced a solid batting display to post 198 for eight. Pandya top-scored with a 33-ball 51 while Suryakumar Yadav (39), Deepak Hooda (33) and skipper Rohit Sharma (24) were the other contributors.
For England, Chris Jordon (2/23) and Mooen Ali (2/26 in 2 overs) snapped two wickets each. Reece Topley (1/34), Tymal Mills (1/35) and Matthew Parkinson (1/44) also scalped one each.
Brief Scores: India: 198 for 8 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 51; Chris Jordon 2/23, Moeen Ali 2/26).
