England’s hopes for a fresh start under new coach Brendon McCullum took a hard hit as they stumbled in the first T20 against India in Kolkata.

Despite McCullum’s dual role as the Test and white-ball coach, England’s battle against spin resurfaced, handing India a comfortable 1-0 lead in the series.

The team had a rough time here 10 months ago during their Test series against India, where they suffered a 4-1 defeat.

Their struggle against Pakistan last autumn added to the pressure, showing that England’s issues with subcontinent conditions have not been resolved, particularly with handling spinning deliveries.

England’s Batting Woes Against Spin

After being asked to bat first by India, England’s total of just 132 seemed incredibly low.

Their top-order could not handle India’s spin trio—Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, and Ravi Bishnoi—who combined for impressive figures of 5 wickets for just 67 runs in 12 overs.

While Jos Buttler, an IPL veteran, managed to score 68 runs off 44 balls, he ran out of partners.

The rest of the batting lineup contributed a mere 53 runs off 76 balls.

A target of 133 was never going to be a challenge for the Indian batting lineup, especially with the team adapting well after the retirements of key players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

England’s Fight Back Fails Against India

England’s hope rested on their bowlers taking early wickets, with Buttler setting funky fields and Jofra Archer opening the bowling.

Archer had a brief moment of success when he dismissed Suryakumar Yadav with a slower ball, but India’s Abhishek Sharma quickly took control.

Sharma’s rapid 50 off just 20 balls set India on course for victory, and they reached the target with 43 balls to spare, winning by seven wickets.

Mark Wood, returning after four months with an elbow injury, clocked speeds of up to 96 miles per hour, but Sharma adapted to his pace and hit him for consecutive sixes.

Despite England’s efforts to dismiss him, including a dropped catch, Sharma’s quick knock left little hope for England.

England’s Batting Struggles Continue

England’s batting woes were evident from the start, with Phil Salt failing to handle Arshdeep Singh’s bowling and getting out cheaply.

Ben Duckett, making his first T20I appearance as an opener, followed soon after with an aerial attempt that ended in a dismissal.

The match took a turn for the worse when Chakravarthy unleashed two googlies, causing a collapse in the middle order.

Harry Brook was unlucky to be dismissed off an inside edge, while Liam Livingstone was bowled out.

With England’s lower order, including Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, and Gus Atkinson, showing no resistance, the match quickly slipped away from their grasp.

A Tough Road Ahead for England

With the next match scheduled for Chennai, England’s primary concern is their batting.

McCullum will have to address these issues quickly, especially with a series of tough encounters ahead.

While the bowlers battled under challenging conditions, it is clear that the batting line-up must step up if England hopes to turn the series around.

This article was published on TDPel Media. Thanks for reading!

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