T-20: England beat India by 7 wickets

Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

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18.1 Over:  England has beaten India in the first match. Joe roots pounds Nehra for 2 consecutive boundaries. Great show by England. Our preview earlier had said England should not be underestimated. This sets up the series, so Virat Kohli who has taken over the T20 captaincy from MS Dhoni was unable to make a winning debut as skipper. England wrap-up the match with 11 balls remaining.

England 148/3, beat India by 7 wickets in T20 match at Kanpur.

Root: *46 runs(46 balls, 4 boundaries), *Ben Stokes: 2( 5 balls)

Welcome back, India will be keen to take wickets but England has ended the innings on a high, Let's see what happens. Keep following the match here!

1st Over: Billings to face Nehra, England make a cautious start. Just 4 runs from there over.

2nd Over: Bumrah to start proceedings. Boom boundary, this is proving to be expensive another one - boundary. SIX..Bumrah being slaughtered by Billings here. Another SIX and a boundary. This is a run feast unfolding at Greenpark. Bumrah destroyed in the first over. Kohli will have to change him.

England 24/0 

3rd Over: Nehra to bowl to Roy. SIX. Now Roy gets on the act. England have rocketed to 30/0. 

4th Over: As expected Bumrah has been replaced by Yuzvendra Chahal. Roy hits him for a SIX, this is BIG. OUT, Roy dismissed. Chahal does it for India. England 42/1. Root walks in. Chahal gets another one - Billings OUT. India strike back.

England 43/2

5th Over: Yuzvendra Chahal is back in the attack. England's new pair - Root & Morgan will take on the run chase now. This is crunch time for both teams. Both are now playing him cautiously. Just 2 runs from the over.

After 10 overs England is 79/2. Morgan & Root holding the fort for England. India desperate to get a handle in the match with wickets.

11th Over: Pandya bowls to Root, great over, just 6 runs conceded. 

This is interesting stuff, the match is on a knife's edge. Stay tuned for more.

12th Over: Raina bought into the attack, can he get a wicket for India? Morgan hits him for SIX, India feeling the heat now. England 92/1. Another single England reach 93/1.

India is set to take on a resurgent England team in the first T20 match at Greenpark, Kanpur today. Eoin Morgan led from the front in the final ODI at Eden Gardens, Kolkata to deny India an ODI series whitewash. England might be underdogs but Virat's men cannot afford to take them lightly because they were the finalists in the World T20 less than a year ago which was hosted in India. Virat Kohli has a few combinations to work on, first is the opening conundrum - should he open, or is Raina a good deal? Maybe even KL Rahul - the captain must decide. The death overs has always been India's Achilles heal, Parvez Rasool's off-breaks could come in handy for India today, he along with Bumrah can probably cool Virat's nerves. The captain and the coach have to strategise together.

Statistically speaking, India is ranked 2nd in the ICC T20 rankings and England is ranked 5th. Interestingly, England leads India in T20s, the visitors have won 5 matches, India has managed to beat the English just thrice. Kanpur promises a riveting encounter, the weather is perfect for the game at 27 degrees with no possibility of rain.

The game starts at 4:30(India standard time)

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England win toss, elect to bowl

India: KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (capt), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Parvez Rasool, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah

England: Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid

1st Over: So we have a surprise early onVirat Kohli will open with Rahul. This is exciting, the Indian captain has decided to take the bull by the horn and lead from the front.Tymal Mills to begin the first over. Just the third ball and Kohli hits the ball for a boundary, whoosh back of a length ball gone. Fifth ball now Rahul gets on the act, another boundary. India is on the way. Run feast ahead...

India 9/0

2nd Over: Chris Jordan starts the new over, the Indian captain plays and misses a few times. Another boundary by #Virat Kohli. It is a special day today as India celebrates its #68th #Republic Day. Will Kohli give us a #RepublicDay gift, will find out.

India 16/0

3rd Over: Mills finishes the over without much fireworks, he is holding one end up.

4th over: Plunkett now introduced into the attack, will Kohli take him on? First ball boundary, second ball boundary...this is BIG. The Indian captain is leading from the front, India rockets to 30/0. India takes 10 from the over.

Virat Kohli has given India a flying start (AFP)

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5th over: Jordan to start the new over, can he provide the breakthrough? Out, he get Rahul, ball directed at the body, Rahul plays it, easily caught. India lose their first wicket. Raina comes in

6th over: Raina hammers Plunkett for a boundary. Another boundary, so Raina has started with a bang...Virat and Raina can really explode here, England better watch out.

India - 47/1

9th Over: Moeen Ali to continue. Yuvraj and Raina are busy taking singles and mixing it up with boundaries. Another boundary by Yuvraj. India motors along 75/2.

10th Over: Yuvraj Out. Plunkett strikes. Top edge lands in Rashid's hand, this after Yuvraj just got the benefit of the doubt in the last ball. India continues to lose wickets. Dhoni is in now. India 82/3. Raina hammers another one to the boundary.

11th Over: #Suresh Raina has to hold the ground along with India's former T20 captain Dhoni. Ali continues to bowl, India is negotiating him carefully. Ali concedes just 7runs. India 88/3.

12th Over: #Raina OUT. He is bowled by Stokes. India 98/4. Indian wickets are tumbling here at Kanpur. England is doing the right thing, taking wickets and keeping India pegged back.

13th Over: Another Indian wicket falls, this time it is Manish Pandey. Ali is the star, he has taken 2 vital wickets. India 103/5. India now desperately needs a partnership.

14th Over: Plunkett to continue. Jadhav faces him. India is on the backfoot now. Dhoni and Pandya have to hold the fort for India now. India 105/5.

16th Over: Mills gets Pandya, England is really shaking up India here! India is 122/6 now. India pegged back now. The hosts would be lucky to reach 160.

18th Over: #Rasool & #Dhoni at the crease. India has managed just 132 for the loss of 6 wickets. Mills is keeping it tight. India's last boundary came in the 15th over, so they are being really strangled here!

19th Over: Just 7 runs from this over, India is now depending on Dhoni to push India towards 150. The last over coming up.

20th Over: First ball - Dhoni dropped, this could prove costly. Jordan bowls another one, boundary and another one. Consecutive boundaries, Dhoni is the man, ice cool. Out, Rasool is Run-Out. Wasted effort in the last over. India manage two runs off the last ball. 147/7, just below par but a good fight to get there!

England need 148 runs to win