KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan hammered scintillating fifties after Mohammed Shami’s three-wicket burst as India registered a seven-wicket win over England in their first warm-up match of the ICC T20 World Cup at Dubai on Monday. Kishan smashed an unbeaten 46-ball 70 before retiring, while KL Rahul (51 off 24) and Rishabh Pant (29 off 14) also chipped in as India chased down 188 runs with six balls to spare.
India got off to an excellent start as Rahul and Kishan put on 59 runs inside the first six overs. Rahul continued with his form and he brought up his half-century in the 9th over of the innings. However, Rahul (51) lost his wicket to Mark Wood immediately after reaching the landmark and this brought an end to the 82-run opening stand.
Rahul’s wicket did not slow the run-rate down as Kishan kept on going on his merry way and he brought up his 50 off just 36 balls in the 12th over of the innings.
Earlier, Shami hit the straps with a fast and accurate spell that fetched him three wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin and Rahul Chahar were locked in an engaging contest for third spinner’s slot as England scored 188 for 5.The England batters also threw their willows around to get some quality time in the middle on a good surface at the ICC Academy ground after being put in to bat.
Veteran Shami (3 for 40) bowled the fuller lengths and also mixed it with clever variations as he got the wickets of openers Jason Roy (17 off 13 balls), Jos Buttler (18 off 13 balls) and Liam Livingstone (30 off 20 balls).
Jasprit Bumrah (1/26 in 4 overs) even in a warm-up game, bowled an unplayable yorker to prevent Jonny Bairstow (49 off 36 balls) from getting a half-century. He was easily India’s best bowler on view while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/54 in 4 overs) clearly struggled as he missed the length time and again. Moeen Ali (43 not out off 20 balls), fresh from his IPL exploits, beefed up England’s score in the final over.
BRIEF SCORES: England 188/5 in 20 overs (Bairstow 49, Moeen 43 n.o.; Shami 3/40, Bumrah 1/26). India 192/3 in 19 overs (Kishan 70 retd, Rahul 51).
