Southampton: Jos Buttler said England had no answer to India’s display of swing bowling after the hosts were beaten by 50 runs in the first Twenty20 of their three-match series.
India made a flying start after opting to bat on Thursday, putting up 198-8 in 20 overs, before Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-10) removed new limited-overs captain Buttler for nought and Hardik Pandya (4-33) got two wickets in quick succession.
England were eventually bowled out for 148 in 19.3 overs and Buttler singled out Bhuvneshwar for praise.
“I think Bhuvneshwar Kumar can swing it most places and he bowled with great control and shaping the ball both ways,” Buttler told Sky Sports.
“It probably swung longer than I can remember in a T20 game, we probably needed to try and hit one into the stands to get it to stop swinging. That didn’t happen and all credit to India, I thought they were fantastic.”
The teams head to Edgbaston for the second match of the series on Saturday. — Reuters
