Kohli: We take pride in the kind of white-ball cricket we play. We won the last T20 series and the one before that and the one before that.
Kohli: Well, we just weren’t aware enough of what we needed to do on that kind of a pitch. We have to come back in the next game with greater clarity of plans. Shreyas’ innings showed how we could have played on it... ride the bounce. We got ahead of ourselves a little bit.
Eng 130/2 after 15.3 overs (Malan 24, Bairstow 26)
Malan finishes it off with a six. Top effort by the tourists. England win by 8 wickets.
Eng 122/2 after 15 overs (Malan 17, Bairstow 25)
Almost home. England showing that they are a very different side in white-ball cricket.
Eng 114/2 after 14 overs (Malan 15, Bairstow 22)
A bit too easy but Washington almost sent Malan back off the last ball. It was hit straight back but also straight towards the non-striker Bairstow.
Eng 107/2 after 13 overs (Malan 14, Bairstow 16)
Bairstow has come out and played some shots. He couldn’t do one thing right in the Tests but he is going after the bowling here.
Eng 89/2 after 11 overs (Malan 12)
WICKET! Washington into the attack and he strikes with his first ball to send back Roy. Trapped LBW on 49 as he tried to take a cheeky single. The review didn’t help. Roy lbw b Washington Sundar 49(32)
Eng 89/1 after 11 overs (Roy 49, Malan 12)
The runs continue to flow for England. Not much life left in the chase.
Eng 81/1 after 10 overs (Roy 47, Malan 6)
Chahal continues to bowl well but India need quick wickets to even make England think about the result.
Eng 77/1 after 9 overs (Roy 45, Malan 4)
Malan comes in and from the other end, Kohli gets Pandya into the attack. A decent first over.
Eng 72/1 after 8 overs (Roy 44)
WICKET! Chahal finally strikes a blow for India. Buttler plays down the wrong line and is trapped LBW. Buttler lbw b Chahal 28(24)
Eng 58/0 after 7 overs (Roy 31, Buttler 27)
Roy keeps going for the big shots and he keeps pulling them off from time to time.
Eng 50/0 after 6 overs (Roy 24, Buttler 26)
India were 22/3 at the same stage. This looks like it is a walk in the park for England. India needed wickets but they have got nothing.
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Ind 124/7 after 20 overs (Axar 7, Sundar 3)
Iyer made a brilliant 67 but no one else got going for India. England will be favourites at this point. Archer finishes with 3/23.
Ind 83/4 after 15 overs (Iyer 40, Pandya 17)
Pandya gets going. A six down the ground and then a ramp shot for four in which he got his body out of the way wonderfully.
Ind 71/4 after 14 overs (Iyer 39, Pandya 6)
Steady stuff for England. Woods has been superb. He has charged in and bowled quick. That has been the brief.
Ind 63/4 after 13 overs (Iyer 34, Pandya 3)
Even Jordan bowling one around 146 km/h. England’s shock and awe tactics have worked so far. India will hope Pandya gets stuck in.
Ind 58/4 after 12 overs (Iyer 31, Pandya 1)
Wood working up some really pace – six deliveries in the high 140s. India just hanging on at the moment.
Ind 55/4 after 11 overs (Iyer 29, Pandya 0)
Iyer is timing the ball really well and India need him to stay till the end. Pandya will need an over or two to get his eye in.
Ind 48/4 after 10 overs (Iyer 22)
WICKET! Pant picks it up and hits it straight to Bairstow in the deep. India sinks a little lower into the quicksand. Pant c Bairstow b Stokes 21(23)
Ind 40/3 after 9 overs (Pant 20, Iyer 15)
Curran into the attack and he is bowling a lot of cutters. Gets the line wrong on the last ball and Iyer helps it along for four.
Ind 34/3 after 8 overs (Pant 19, Iyer 10)
Another good over for England. Dew is expected later in the evening as well.
Ind 29/3 after 7 overs (Pant 17, Iyer 7)
Wood got his line wrong and Iyer helped himself to a four. India have enough batting depth but they need a platform.
Ind 22/3 after 6 overs (Pant 16, Iyer 1)
Iyer in now and he will have to play the role of the anchor here. Pant will do his thing but India need to get a partnership going.
Ind 20/3 after 5 overs (Pant 14)
WICKET! Wood claims his first wicket, Dhawan goes for the wild slog across the line and is now walking back. Dhawan b Mark Wood 4(12)
Ind 18/2 after 4 overs (Dhawan 3, Pant 14)
PANT!!! A reverse scoop for six. Archer is quick but Pant probably believes he can do anything right now. He follow it up with a conventional four. 14 off 8 balls... Pant is up and running.
Pant comes out ahead of Iyer.
Ind 3/2 after 2.3 overs (Dhawan 2)
WICKET! Kohli tried to force it to the off-side but failed to get the required elevation and found Jordan at the edge of the circle around mid-off. A strange Kohli innings comes to an end. Rashid strikes. Kohli c Jordan b Adil Rashid 0 (5)
Ind 2/1 after 2 overs (Dhawan 1, Kohli 0)
Archer working up some pace and getting some disconcerting bounce to surprise Kohli.
Ind 2/1 after 1.2 overs (Dhawan 1)
WICKET! Rahul’s feet didn’t move and he dragged it back onto the stumps. Archer strikes for England. Rahul b Jofra Archer 1(4)
Ind 2/0 after 1 over (Dhawan 1, Rahul 1)
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, England’s sole spinner, to start things off. Just two runs off the over... a good start for England as India’s openers come to grips with the pace of the pitch.
National anthems done and we are all set for the match to begin. The first of eight white-ball games – 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs.
Hardik Pandya: It has been a long time since I have bowled but in this series, I am going to bowl.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma has been rested. Bhuvneshwar Kumar comes back in
Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal
England Playing XI: No Moeen Ali.
Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (w), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Big news: Rohit Sharma will be resting for the first couple of games. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul to open the innings.
India skipper Virat Kohli: Probably would have bowled first as well. Dew is going to be a massive factor.
Toss: Eoin Morgan wins the toss and England are going to have a bowl first. They expect the pitch to play good throughout the game.
Pitch: We have moved away from the red soil pitches and we have a black soil pitch for the T20I. It should be pretty good for batting and a score of around 170-180 is expected to be par for the course.
6.19 pm: India skipper Virat Kohli wants to see his side take things up a gear while England Twenty20 skipper Eoin Morgan feels the series against India was an “extremely exciting” challenge that would help the team prepare for the World Cup later this year.
It’s still early days but a chance for two sides that will be contenders during the T20 World Cup later this year to test out combinations against quality opposition.
The five-match series starts will also be the only opportunity for a full-strength England squad to play together before the World Cup in India in October-November due to scheduling demands, Morgan said.
England – the top-ranked T20 side – are coming off the back of a woeful Test series that saw the team crumble to a 3-1 defeat after winning the first game.
But the T20 squad will include in-form top-order batsman Dawid Malan, the Curran brothers and Jason Roy, who were not part of the series loss.
Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali, who both left the Test tour partway through the series in line with the England and Wales Cricket Board’s rotation policy, are also back for the T20 series.
Morgan was hopeful the series would allow the squad to “learn a huge amount from this tour and then have time to improve”.
“Certainly with one eye on the World Cup in seven months time, it is an opportunity to try and replicate teams and roles within the side that we might need to iron out before we get to the World Cup.”
The T20 Indian Premier League, which will begin in India on April 9, would play a big role in helping the England players prepare for the tournament, he added.