Mighty middle-order hand India narrow edge in Twenty20 series

Twenty20 international
Tuesday 5.30pm Tuesday

Preparations have been smooth for England and India ahead of their monumental summer showdown comprising three Twenty20s, three one-day internationals and a five-match Test series, and the action kick-starts with the first T20 at Old Trafford.

The 5-0 ODI whitewash of Australia was swiftly followed by a convincing T20 win for England, while India were eased into the months ahead with back-to-back annihilations of a dismal Irish contingent in the game’s shortest format.

It was difficult to correctly gauge England’s form in white-ball cricket against the Aussies, who lacked the bowling prowess to tame Jos Buttler among others and, although most bookmakers quote the hosts at odds-on for the upcoming three-game T20 series, India will be no pushovers.

Virat Kohli’s side sit second in the world T20 rankings, following March’s Nidahas Tri-Series success against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh plus convincing victories against Ireland.

The two wins for India marked the first time they have made scores of 200 or more in consecutive T20 matches and their 143-run victory in the second game in Malahide was their biggest win in the format.

There are consequent middle-order headaches facing Kohli, who has a catalogue of in-form batsmen at his disposal. Lokesh Rahul scored 70 and secured the man-of-the-match award in India’s record-breaking defeat of Ireland but Suresh Raina was only one short of his teammate’s total, while Hardik Pandya and Manish Pandey can also throw their names into the mix.

In terms of consistency, however, it could be the man yet to bat on British soil, Rahul, who poses the biggest problems for England’s bowling attack.

The Kings XI Punjab batsman can cope with a range of lengths and bowling styles and finished the third-highest runscorer in the Indian Premier League earlier this year with a total 659 runs, which included the fastest half-century in the competition's history.

England hit a rich vein of form against a deflated Australia outfit and impressed in the recent T20 at Edgbaston, with Jason Roy and Alex Hales adding admirable totals of 44 and 49 respectively to Buttler’s brisk score of 61.

Buttler remains England’s not-so-secret weapon at the crease but Adil Rashid can do as much damage with the ball. Following a 14-wicket haul in the ODI series against Australia, including figures of 4-47 at Trent Bridge, Rashid claimed another three wickets in the recent T20 and India should be wary of the in-form leg-spinner from day one.

It’s a bold move to oppose an England team in whirlwind white-ball form but Kohli’s India have the middle-order depth to edge what is likely to be a tightly-contested series.

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