India vs England 1st T20I abandoned due to rain after Shreyas, Abhishek shine

Chester-le-Street: Abhishek Sharma’s brilliant 59 and captain Shreyas Iyer’s composed 68 helped India secure a slice of positivity despite their first T20I against England being abandoned because of incessant rain on Wednesday.

Their half-centuries allowed India to post a competitive 189 for seven, a noticeable turnaround in their batting fortunes after producing two underwhelming efforts against Ireland in a recent 0-2 series defeat.

England’s chase of 190 remained a non-starter after the heavens opened up during the innings break.

The second contest of the five-match series will be played at Manchester on July 4.

But the beginning of the tourists' innings was anything but rosy after they elected to bat.

The T20I world champions lost Sanju Samson, who drove Saqib Mahmood to Tom Banton at point, and Ishan Kishan with just six runs on the scoreboard. Mahmood finished with figures of 3-33.

Kishan was run out after a mix-up with Abhishek, a mirror image of his dismissal in the second T20I against Ireland at Belfast recently.

At that moment, the Indian camp might have briefly revisited their recent batting travails against Ireland.

But those fleeting worries were soon eased once Abhishek slipped into his groove, and a bedlam ensued.

Pacers Luke Wood and Mahmood were taken apart spectacularly. Mahmood was carted around for a four and two sixes, and Shreyas also found a boundary as India eked 21 runs off the fourth over.

Mahmood tried to unsettle Abhishek with a couple of short-pitched balls, but the left-hander was equal to the task while bringing out two well-timed pulls.

The timing was a big part of the third-wicket alliance that produced 82 runs in a little over seven overs, and it was evident in the way Abhishek handled Wood.

The 25-year-old smashed the England quick for a hat-trick of fours as India piled up an impressive 61 for two in the powerplay.

Abhishek did not take his foot off the pedal even after the powerplay, reaching his fifty off just 20 balls.

But he did not last long afterwards as Sam Curran trapped him in front of the wicket while the batter remained stranded on the back foot.

Shreyas Regains Form

However, Shreyas, who had until then been supporting his younger partner, took over the job of leading India's innings and notched his ninth T20I fifty, his first as captain.

The Mumbai man was more keen to pick gaps and stay deep into the innings, leaving the big hits to others.

But he was no slouch either, evidenced by a ferocious pull off leg-spinner Adil Rashid for a four, and later a mighty loft over extra cover off Wood for a six.

The right-hander reached his fifty in 38 balls, a milestone that likely settled a lot of nerves inside him, particularly after two modest outings against Ireland.

But Shreyas also fell soon after his fifty, falling leg before to Mahmood.

India stood at 165 at that point and remained in need of a few more runs.

Shivam Dube played a nice little cameo, finishing unbeaten on 42 off 21 balls to help India milk 54 runs off the final five overs. The late surge followed a middle-order dawdle where the visitors struggled for boundaries between the eighth and 14th overs.

Dube's knock pushed India close to the 190-run mark, a total that could have challenged England massively under the gloomy Durham skies.

However, the constant downpour robbed enthusiastic fans of a few thrilling moments in the second innings as umpires decided to call off the game with nearly 40 minutes left to start a truncated five-over contest.

With inputs from PTI