It’s been over five months since England last played a T20 international. Their last assignment was in the Caribbean when they played a five-match series but went down 2-3. However, this will be a fresh start for them as regular skipper Eoin Morgan announced his retirement recently and Jos Buttler is likely to lead the England white-ball sides.
Match Summary
- England vs India, 1st T20I
- The Rose Bowl, Southampton
- July 7th, 2022
Meanwhile, India continue their slew of T20I matches. They recently faced South Africa in a five-match series at home before flying to Ireland for a two-game series. They drew 2-2 against the Proteas, losing the first two games before winning the last two and they won 2-0 in Ireland.
Both teams are unlikely to have their Test stars for this game as the rescheduled fifth Test match which will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham is slated to finish only on the 5th of July and two days is a short turnaround. Thus, for England, their squad could look a lot similar to the one that played the ODI series in Netherlands recently while the Indian squad will largely comprise of the players who took part in the series in Ireland.
And even in the absence of some of their stars, England boast of a fiery batting line-up that was going all guns blazing in Netherlands a couple of weeks ago in the ODI series. Their bowling also looks pretty good but death bowling could be an issue. Meanwhile, India’s batting looks solid as well and the likes of Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson and Dinesh Karthik will be looking to impress once again before their superstars join the squad. Meanwhile, the bowlers will be tested in flat batting conditions.
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Head to head is almost even-stevens
The head to head record between England and India in the shortest format is almost neck to neck. England have nine wins while India have 10. However, India have won the last three bilateral T20I series that these two sides have played. They won 2-1 in early 2017 at home before winning 2-1 in England in 2018 and then again 3-2 at home.
Jos Buttler’s magnificent run of form
Jos Buttler is in some insane form with the bat at the moment. He smashed four hundreds in the IPL and amassed 863 runs in the IPL 2022 which included four hundreds and as many fifties. He hit 83 fours and 45 sixes. His record-breaking spree continued in the ODI series against Netherlands when he smashed 248 runs in just two innings without being dismissed. He was striking at 185.07 (14 fours and 19 sixes) as he got scores of 162 not out off 70 balls and 86 not out off 64 balls in the two games he batted. The England wicket-keeper batter is on a mad run of form and India will have their task cut out against him.
Team News
Ruturaj Gaikwad injured himself in the first T20I against Ireland and didn’t bat either. He didn’t play the second game and Sanju Samson replaced him in the playing XI. Avesh Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal sat out in the second T20I in Ireland and they are expected to return to the line-up, replacing Umran Malik and Ravi Bishnoi respectively.
Meanwhile, England’s playing XI might look similar to the one that played in the third ODI against Netherlands. Matt Parkinson will replace Adil Rashid and Reece Topley might come in place of David Payne. Chris Jordan could replace Brydon Carse as well.
Match prediction
Given their batting power and might, England might start as slight favourites and have the winning odds of 1.67. India are not too far behind and have the winning odds of 1.85.
Who will win the Man of the Match?
Jos Buttler has been in mind-boggling form and has been racking up big scores for fun. He smashed 863 runs at an average of 57.53 and a strike-rate of 149.05 in the IPL this year. Add to that, scores of 162 and 86 (both unbeaten) in the ODI series against Netherlands. For India, Hardik Pandya could be the key with both bat and ball. He is batting really well and his finishing prowess will be crucial.
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- Over 50,000 events per month
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