Shreyas, Abhishek shine with fifties before rain forces abandonment of India’s 1st T20I vs England

Abhishek Sharma’s dynamic 59 and skipper Shreyas Iyer’s composed 68 helped India gain a slice of positivity despite their first T20I against England getting abandoned because of incessant rains on Wednesday.

Their fifties helped India post a competitive 189 for seven, a noticeable change in their batting fortunes after churning out two underwhelming efforts against Ireland in the recent 0-2 series defeat.

England’s chase of 190 remained a non-starter after the heavens opened up during the innings break.

The second contest of the five-match series will be played at Manchester on July 4. But the beginning of the tourists’ innings was anything but rosy after they elected to bat.

The T20I world champions lost Sanju Samson, who drove Saqib Mahmood (3/33) to Tom Banton at point, and Ishan Kishan with just six runs on the board.

Kishan was run out after a mix-up with Abhishek, a mirror image of his dismissal in the second T20I against Ireland at Belfast recently.

At that time, the Indian camp might have briefly revisited their recent batting travails against Ireland in a 0-2 series defeat. But those fleeting worries were soon eased once Abhishek slipped into his groove, and a bedlam ensued.

Pacers Luke Wood and Mahmood were taken apart spectacularly. Mahmood were carted around for 4, 6, 6 and Shreyas also found a four as India eked 21 runs off the fourth over.

Mahmood tried to unsettle Abhishek with a couple of short-pitched balls, but the left-hander was equal to the task while bringing out two well-timed pulls.

The timing was a big part of the third wicket alliance that produced 82 runs in a little over seven overs, and it was evident in the way Abhishek handled Wood. The 25-year-old smashed England quick for a hat-trick of fours as India piled up an impressive 61 for two in the powerplay.

Abhishek did not take his feet off the pedal even after the powerplay, and fetched his fifty off just 20 balls.

But he did not last long as Sam Curran trapped him in front of the wicket as the batter remained stranded on the back-foot.

Shreyas regains form: However, Shreyas, till then supporting his younger partner, took over the job of leading India’s innings, and notched up his ninth T20I fifty, first as captain.

The Mumbai man was more keen to pick up gaps and stay deep into the innings, leaving the big hits to others.

But he was no slouch either, evidenced by a ferocious pull off leg-spinner Adil Rashid for a four, and later a mighty loft over extra cover off Wood for a six.

The right-hander reached his fifty in 38 balls, and it might have settled a lot of nerves inside him, particularly after two modest outings against Ireland.

But Shreyas too fell soon after his fifty, falling leg before to Mahmood.

India were 165 then and in need of a few more runs.

Shivam Dube (42 not out, 21b) played a nice little cameo, helping India milk 54 runs off the final five overs after a middle-order dawdle saw the visitors struggling for boundaries between eighth and 14th over.

Dube’s knock also took India close to the 190-run mark, and it could have challenged England massively under the gloomy Durham skies.

However, the constant downpour robbed the enthusiastic fans of a few thrilling moments in the second innings as umpires decided to call off the game with nearly 40 minutes left for the start of a five-over game.