India vs England 1st T20I: Hardik Pandya shines as India thrash hosts by 50 runs

An all-round show from Hardik Pandya helped India beat England by 50 runs in the first T20I in Southampton on Thursday night.

Chasing a daunting 199-run target, the hosts were off to the worst possible start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned up captain Jos Buttler for a golden duck.

Hardik Pandya then produced a brilliant spell and got rid of Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone in quick succession.

Also read: New era for Indian Women's Cricket team begins with victory over Sri Lanka

Moeen Ali & Harry Brook gave the Three Lions a semblance of hope but England were always behind the eight ball. The hosts were eventually bowled out for 148 as Pandya finished with figures of 4/33.

Having won the toss and opting to bat, India came out all guns blazing with captain Rohit Sharma doing the bulk of scoring in the powerplay before he got out for 24.

After Ishan Kishan fell cheaply, Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar didn’t let the scoring rate drop. However, it was Hardik Pandya, who produced a magnificent performance with the bat to notch up his maiden fifty in T20Is.

England bowlers managed to stem the run flow in the death overs, conceding only 20 runs from the last 3 overs to keep India under 200. But as it turned out, it was more than enough for the hosts.