India start in resounding fashion

Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav's magical spell was complemented by K L Rahul's dazzling strokeplay as India started their tour of England on a resounding note, winning the opening T20 international by eight wickets here on Tuesday.

Young Kuldeep (5/24) became the first chinaman bowler to take a five-for in the shortest format as he single-handedly restricted England to an average 159 for eight on a flat deck.

Then it was the turn of opener Rahul, who smashed his second T20 International hundred en route his 54-ball-101 as India comfortably chased the target in 18.2 overs.

He added 123 runs for the second wicket with Rohit Sharma (32 off 30 balls).

Rahul's innings had 10 fours and five sixes and Manish Pandey's injury proved to be a blessing in disguise as the talented Karnataka opener got a chance at No 3 with skipper Virat Kohli pushing himself down the order.

Rahul -- dropped on 17 by Jason Roy -- mixed finesse with some brutal hitting.

India's batsmen oozed class as they went about the chase in a confident fashion after Willey removed Shikhar Dhawan, with Rahul in particular showing his quality as he brought up his half-century off 27 balls with a late cut off Adil Rashid.

It was the Indian captain, who finished the match with a six off Moeen Ali to remain unbeaten on 20.

Earlier, Kuldeep left the English batsmen in a daze with his magical spell of wrist spin.

Kohli's decision to bowl was vindicated by Kuldeep, who broke the backbone of the England batting with his career-best figures and a maiden five-wicket haul.

This was after a solid start provided by in-form openers Jos Buttler (69 off 45 balls) and Jason Roy (30 off 20 balls), who added 50 in the first five overs of Powerplay.

However from a relatively comfortable 95 for 1 in the 12th over, Kuldeep removed rival skipper Eoin Morgan (7), Jonny Bairstow (0) and Joe Root (0) in the 14th over.

That England lacked homework while facing Kuldeep was evident with the likes of Bairstow and Root being left in a tangle. They were both deceived by flight and failed to read the turn off the pitch, getting out off successive deliveries.

These two dismissals were preceded by the downfall of Alex Hales (8) and skipper Eoin Morgan (7) and Buttler soon followed after getting frustrated with wickets falling like ninepins at the other end.

Kuldeep's effort was even more praiseworthy considering that his fellow spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (0/34) had an off-day.

England started off well with both Buttler (8x4, 2x6) and Roy (5x4) hitting a flurry of boundaries off Bhuvneshwar but Umesh Yadav (2/21) quickly found his ideal length.

He hit the back of the length area to castle Roy. Hales, who came in next was edgy from the start and wasted deliveries before he tried to sweep Kuldeep and was bowled round the legs.

Skipper Morgan wanted to get going but misread the flight as he was holed at deep mid-wicket.

From 95 for one, England were left tottering at 107 for five and never really recovered from that position.