India vs England, 1st T20I: Rain disrupted the plans at Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of the first game of the five-match ENG vs. IND T20 2026 series without a result.
With Shreyas Iyer, the new T20 captain, hitting a 47-ball 68 and Abhishek Sharma going after the bowlers with 59 in just 24 balls, the Indian cricket team posted 189/7. England, then again, could not get back on the field for their run chase this time.
India vs England 1st T20I: Rain abandons series opener
Due to very heavy rain on Wednesday, the first Twenty20 International match between India and England in a five-match series was abandoned. When it began to rain during India’s innings in which the visitors put up a score of 189 for seven in 20 overs, the umpires decided to call off the match after a little over forty minutes of the remaining five-overs game’s cutoff time because the rain was getting heavier. Opening batsman Abhishek Sharma made 59, whereas India captain Shreyas Iyer was 68 off 47 balls. Towards the end of the innings, all-rounder Shivam Dube scored 42 not out in 21 balls.
India lose Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan early
India, who again chose to delay a debut for their 15-year-old batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, had fought back well from a terrible start. They were 6-2 after two overs with opener Sanju Samson departing to a flying catch by Tom Banton at backward point off Saqib Mahmood and Ishan Kishan run out two balls later by Harry Brook after a mix-up with Abhishek Sharma.
Abhishek Sharma stars in a record-breaking knock
Sharma, deposed by Kishan at the top of the ICC T20 batting rankings, shrugged off the incident to take the attack to England, despatching Mahmood for successive sixes. It took the 25-year-old past 100 T20 international sixes. He is the quickest player to reach the milestone off 785 balls. Three successive boundaries off Luke Wood maintained the momentum as India reached 61-2 at the end of the six-over powerplay.
The onslaught gave Brook, who was captaining England’s white-ball side two days after being part of the test team that lost the series to New Zealand, a lot to think about. He turned to Sam Curran and it proved a smart call as the left-armer trapped Sharma lbw with his second ball for an exhilarating 59 off 24 balls.
Shreyas Iyer bounces back, while Shivam Dube provides finishing touches
India captain Iyer, who hit a beautiful six over extra cover off Wood, made a more workmanlike 68 off 47 balls before falling lbw to Mahmood who finished with 3-33. Shivam Dube finished on 42 not out from 21 balls.
India, who beat England in a high-scoring semi-final on their way to lifting the World Cup in March, would have been pleased with their total but England were still in the game. The teams move on to Old Trafford, Manchester for the second game of the series on Saturday.