Hardhik fifty takes India to 198/8

By Our Special Correspondent

Hardik Pandya scored his maiden half-century as India scored 198/8 in the 1st T20I against England.

Rohit Sharma scored 24 runs off 14 balls with 5 fours and made a good start for Team India. An in-form Deepak Hooda scored 33 runs off 17 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Although Ishan Kishan was dismissed cheaply for 8 runs, the other batsmen maintained their strike rate.

Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav continued to dominate the middle over’s as India scored 91 runs in 7-15 middle over’s. Surya Kumar Yadav was dismissed for 39 off 19 balls with 4 fours & 2 sixes, while Hardik Pandya registered his maiden half-century in T20Is, scoring 51 off 33 balls with 6 fours & a six.

Among England's bowlers, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan took 2 wickets, while Reece Topley, Tymal Mills and Matthew Parkinson each took a wicket. India's total fell below 200 as the English bowlers fell back sharply in the death over’s. England scored only 41 runs in the last 4 over’s and took 4 wickets.

Earlier, Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in the first T20 against England. The match is being played at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.