It was not a good day for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) new English recruits at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on January 22 in the first T20I against India. Opener Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and young Jacob Bethell failed to make a mark after Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first in the series opener.
Opener Salt was the first to fall. He was surprised by the short delivery from Arshdeep Singh. The leading edge went to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson who took a simple catch. Salt departed without troubling the scorers for a three-ball duck. Salt who has three T20I centuries is yet to fire against India. From three innings, he has scored just 13 runs against India.
Livingstone walked in to bat in the eighth over after Varun Chakravarthy knocked over Harry Brook. Livingstone got bowled as well. He failed to pick the wrong one and went for a drive. The ball flattened the leg stump as he departed for a two-ball duck.
In the 12th over, Hardik Pandya brought Bethell's troubled stay at the crease to an end. He went hard at the short ball but found Abhishek Sharma at deep mid-wicket. The southpaw scored just seven runs from 14 balls.
Price tag of RCB's England trio
Salt was RCB's most expensive batter at the IPL 2025 mega auction. After a bidding war with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), they picked him for Rs 11.50 crore. Livingstone was roped in for Rs 8.75 crore. Much later in the auction, they went for Bethell and acquired the 21-year-old's services for Rs 2.60 crore.
Buttler fights, Chakravarthy picks three
While England suffered a collapse, captain Jos Buttler fought from the other end. He scored 68 runs from 44 balls including eight fours and a couple of sixes. His stay at the crease came to an end in the 17th over of the innings. he became Chakravarthy's third victim of the evening. The spinner conceded 23 runs from his quota of four overs and took three wickets.
Apart from Buttler, only Brook and Jofra Archer managed to score in double digits. England were bowled out for 132 in 20 overs.