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3 hours ago
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This was a reminder. For all of England’s obvious pedigree – power with the bat, high pace with the ball, trophies already in the cabinet – Brendon McCullum has a bit of work to do. A white-ball setup that has had a difficult couple of years were swept aside by a team that are running hot, India claiming their 14th win out of 16 since taking the T20 World Cup last year, a seven-wicket victory secured with 43 balls left.
A comfortable Indian chase was set up by a tale familiar to England across formats: a struggle against spin. While Jos Buttler impressed with a 44-ball 68, his teammates floundered during the middle overs. The variety of Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi was too much, the trio going at under six an over, the first two sharing five wickets. In what was billed as a run-fest, England managed only 132.
Then came the electricity of a futuristic batting lineup that had amassed more than 200 in five of their past six matches. Sanju Samson kicked things off with 22 off one Gus Atkinson over, but the night belonged to Abhishek Sharma, a left-hander who lets the hands fly. His staggering 34-ball 79 brought the premature finish, McCullum’s time as all-format head coach beginning with a serious thump.
Both sides lined up with enterprise in their batting but differed in their method for wickets. A day out from the game England had named a bowling attack featuring four quicks while India opted for only one specialist fast bowler in Arshdeep Singh. The hosts, with three full-time spinners, backed their slow stuff against McCullum’s need for speed.
But a pitch with a green tinge was immediately inviting pace, Arshdeep striking with his second ball after Suryakumar Yadav chose to bowl first. The ball leapt off a length; Phil Salt’s attempted leg-side clip prompted a top edge, a simple catch gifted to the wicketkeeper. Ben Duckett, playing his first T20 international in more than a year, offered a cheeky reverse-slap for four off Arshdeep but fell next ball with a miscue. At 17 for two from three overs, England’s powerplay was going to waste.
Buttler pushed back. McCullum has geed him up in recent days, arguing that the best of the 34-year-old could still be on the way, the new coach trying to replace his captain’s thousand-yard stare with a liberated smile. With Arshdeep in control from one end, Buttler targeted Hardik Pandya with six boundaries off the all-rounder’s first two overs, the ball picked through various leg-side gaps.
But no one seemed capable of sticking around with their leader. Harry Brook offered a touch of his genius with a drive over extra cover off Axar but little else, undone on 17 by a googly from Chakravarthy. The spinner’s stump-to-stump mystery proved as indecipherable as a five-year-old’s handwriting; two balls later Liam Livingstone fell to the same delivery, the collapse under way.
Jacob Bethell never found any rhythm in his 14-ball seven. Jamie Overton, in at No 7 for the late surge, was called in way too early with his 12th-over arrival. His goodbye came less than two overs later.
It was all on Buttler, who had reached his half-century off 34 balls, to quieten Eden Gardens. But a pull for six off Chakravarthy to begin the 17th over was not the start of a grand one-man show, a fielder being found next ball to leave England 109 for eight.
Could England’s quicks, at the very least, make the evening tense? Jofra Archer began with a short leg and leg slip, Buttler hoping to intimidate with his field as his premier fast bowler began with five dots to Samson. But the opener then laid into Atkinson, a flattish six over cover the highlight, before Sharma made fine use of Archer’s pace, the hands and minimal footwork carrying another six off the offside. The rout was on.
Archer found joy with the short ball, dismissing Samson and Yadav in the same over, but then came the downside of bloodcurdling pace as Sharma used Mark Wood’s heat for consecutive sixes.
When Adil Rashid’s leggies were introduced in the eighth over, it felt a touch too late for the tempo change. Sharma wasn’t up for doing it in singles: he slugged 16 off three Rashid deliveries before diverting Overton over fine leg to reach his half-century. Rashid eventually got him – but, with eight required from 49 balls, the contest long done.
