Southampton : An all-round performance from Hardik Pandya helped Team India defeat England by 50 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series, here at Southampton on Thursday.

Hardik smashed 51 runs off 33 balls which took India’s total to 198/8 in the first innings. Later, he went on to scalp four wickets and restricted England at 148.

Apart from him, debutant Arshdeep Singh and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal scalped two wickets each. Chasing 199, England started off on a pathetic note with skipper Jos Buttler getting bowled out by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the fifth ball of the innings and only one run on the board. Dawid Malan joined hands with opener Jason Roy on the crease and tried to anchor the innings.

Their duo broke in the 5th over when Hardik dismissed Malan, who departed after scoring 21 runs in 14 balls. It was followed by Liam Livingstone’s dismissal in the same over, which left the hosts struggling at 29/3.

Harry Brook came to the crease with Jason Roy but India got another breakthrough in the 7th over, when the latter was caught by Harshal Patel on Hardik’s delivery. Brook was joined by Moeen Ali and provided England with some momentum.

The duo then stitched a 60-run partnership and took England’s score to 94/4, before Chahal struck twice and sent both the batters back to the dugout in the 13th over, leaving England’s score at 100/6.

Sam Curran and Chris Jordan came to the crease but could not do much as the former was caught by Dinesh Karthik on Hardik’s delivery in the 14th over. Tymal Mills joined hands with Jordan and was caught and bowled by Harshal Patel after scoring 7 runs.

Following this, Reece Topley came to the crease but could not stand for long as he fell prey to Arshdeep’s spell and departed after contributing 9 runs for his team. Matthew Parkinson joined hands with Jordan and tried to build a partnership.
England’s chase came to an end after Parkinson was caught by Deepak Hooda on Arshdeep’s delivery, which provided the visitors with a win by 50 runs.

Earlier, Hardik smashed 51 runs while Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda scored 39 and 33 runs, respectively, which helped Team India score 198 runs in the first innings. For England, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan scalped two wickets each, while Topley, Tymal Mills, and Parkinson took one wicket each.

Brief scores: India 198/8 (Hardik Pandya 51, Suryakumar Yadav 39; Chris Jordan 2/23) vs England 148 (Moeen Ali 36, Harry Brook 28; Hardik Pandya 4/33).