India 133 for 3 (Abhishek 79, Samson 26, Archer 2-21) beat England 132 (Buttler 68, Varun 3-23, Arshdeep 2-17) by seven wickets
By the time Buttler departed in the 17th over, he had provided 68 out of the 109 on the board, with Harry Brook the only batter to reach double figures before Jofra Archer pitched in with 12 from No.9.
Brook’s 17 was part of a stand of 48 with Buttler, the vice-captain and captain setting about a rebuild ended by Varun’s googlies. The 33-year-old bowled Brook and Liam Livingstone in the space of three deliveries to turn that back to rubble. His third was Buttler, holing out to deep square leg.
Whatever little jeopardy there was in the chase, it was restricted to just the fifth over, when Archer removed both. Sanju Samson – who had done the early running – and Surayakumar for a duck in four deliveries. Archer, who bowled his four overs on the bounce having opened the innings, was comfortably the pick of England’s bowlers with 2 for 21.
That merely put the onus on Abhishek, he was put down by Adil Rashid on 29 off 16. The left-hander would bring up his half-century just four balls later.
Though Rashid would eventually get his man, India had all but established a 1-0 lead in this five-match series. A top-edged four from Tilak Varma off Mark Wood’s bouncer off the penultimate ball of the 13th over confirmed it.
