India registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory over England in their first warm-up game on the back of half-centuries from openers KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan ahead of ICC T20 World Cup 2021. India finished the run chase of 189 with six balls to spare. Skipper Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav were the only two batters who failed to capitalise on a good start whereas others piled on runs on a batting-friendly wicket at ICC Academy Ground, Dubai.
Hardik doesn’t bowl
Hardik Pandya did not bowl a single over in the warm-up game. It is quite clear that Hardik is in the team purely for his finishing skills in the middle order and not as an all-rounder until and unless the team management don’t want him to overexert ahead of the big games starting October 24 against Pakistan. However, the Baroda did the job of the finisher scoring an unbeaten 12 off 10 deliveries batting alongside Rishabh Pant (29).
Rahul, Kishan dazzle as openers
Chasing 189, Rahul and Kishan opened the innings for India despite skipper’s statement at toss clarifying that Rahul and Rohit will be the first-choice openers. Rahul looked magnificent during his 24-ball 51 including six fours and three sixes. Rahul’s timing was exquisite and he made use of the pace and fielding restrictions in powerplay overs. On the other hand, Kishan continued his IPL form scoring 46-ball 70 before retiring to give other batters a crack at English bowlers. The left-handed batter hit seven fours and three sixes in the innings. The duo shared an 81-run partnership for the first wicket.
Expensive Bhuvneshwar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was supposed to be the fast-bowling spearhead in the mega event but he has been inconsistent of late. Bhuvneshwar remained wicketless and leaked 54 runs from his full quota of four overs. While Kohli backed him to perform and was not concerned about his recent form before the World Cup, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to be the default fast bowlers if India decide to go with three spinners against Pakistan.
Wicket-taking Shami, economical Bumrah
Shami leaked a few boundaries in his four overs but bowled toe-crushing Yorkers to get two of his three wickets. Jos Buttler (18) and Liam Livingstone (30) were going all guns blazing before Shami floored them with his Yorkers. He also got the wicket of opener Jason Roy in the powerplay overs. Bumrah also continued his IPL form and gave just 26 runs from his four overs and took the wicket of a threatening Jonny Bairstow (49) preventing him from reaching his half-century.
Dangerous Moeen
While most England batters took the attacking approach, Moeen Ali kicked it up a notch and scored an unbeaten 43 off 20 deliveries including four fours and two sixes. Ali was destructive in the death overs and is likely to be given the role of finisher in the tournament.
