England thrashed by seven wickets in first T20 as India expose weakness to spin
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Jos Buttler can spend hours practising his smile in the mirror but unless his team-mates learn how to counter spin, that weary frown will return and Brendon McCullum’s spell in charge will go no better than what came before. As India’s spinners ran amok, this was a bruising opening to a new era, much to the delight of a capacity crowd. Led by the tricksy Varun Chakravarthy, India’s spinners shared figures of 12-1-67-5 to gut England’s middle order and set up a simple win by seven wickets. For all Jofra Archer’s gallant efforts with the ball, the target of 133 was chased down inside 13 overs, thanks to a brutal hand from Abhishek Sharma, the gifted 24-year-old from Amritsar.
It was a familiar tale for England, with mystery spin utterly foxing them, as seen in a brilliant second over from Chakravarthy, the match’s eighth. Thanks to Buttler and his new vice-captain Harry Brook, England had built a base from which to attack, fighting back well after the slippery, skilful left-arm swing bowler Arshdeep Singh picked up Phil Salt and Ben Duckett in his opening spell.
But a pair of flat, flicked Chakravarthy googlies stopped that recovery in its tracks as Brook was bowled off bat and pad, then Liam Livingstone, groping hopelessly while trying to make room, was bowled through the gate. The latter was an ugly dismissal for a player so experienced in this format and in these conditions, and left England reeling at 65 for four.
