Yuzvendra Chahal yesterday became India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is when he dismissed Jos Buttler during the first T20I against England in Ahmedabad.
Chahal went past Jasprit Bumrah’s tally of 59 wickets and picked up his 60th, trapping Buttler LBW. Chahal now has 60 wickets from 46 T20Is at 24.75 and an economy rate of 8.34 runs per over. Bumrah has 59 from 50 T20Is at 20.25 and an economy rate of 6.66 runs per over.
Chahal, who played his 100th international match for India yesterday, made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2016. In ODI cricket, Chahal has 92 wickets from 54 matches.
Chahal’s feat aside, there was little to celebrate for India in the opening T20I of the five-match series as England easily chased down the target of 125 set by the hosts to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
India were asked to bat first by England captain Eoin Morgan, and his bowlers vindicated the captain’s decision by picking up three Indian wickets in the Powerplay and then restricting the opponents to 124 for 7.
Shreyas Iyer top scored for India with 67 and Rishabh Pant made 21 but those were the only batsmen to put up a fight.
In reply, Jos Buttler and Jason Roy tore into the Indian bowling attack and put up a 72-run opening stand in the first eight overs before Chahal struck.
There was no respite even after the wicket as Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow wrapped up the game inside 16 overs and helped England take the lead in the series.
This post was published on March 13, 2021 5:01 pm