England vs India 1st T20 Preview & Tips – England to add to India’s T20 woes

India were handed a stunning 2-0 T20 series defeat at the hands of Ireland at the end of June, with the world champions completely outplayed.

India have won seven of their last 10 T20’s against England, with the latter winning the other three.

England looked good at the T20 World Cup earlier in the year, with the side winning six of their eight outings. Considering they were beaten by 30 runs by the West Indies in their second match, England did well to rally.

They secured battling wins over Scotland and Italy before hammering Sri Lanka and edging past Pakistan and New Zealand. This set up their World Cup semi-final against India. India battered their way to 253/7 with England’s valiant 246/7 seeing them come up seven runs short.

While England impressed with the bat, their bowlers struggled to contain India and this ultimately cost them. As has so often been the case, Adil Rashid will be the focal point of England’s attack. He has managed to take two wickets in three of his last four T20’s for England, and I predict that he will have his moments in the first T20.

As for the winner, England will fancy themselves. India were woeful in their 2-0 T20 series loss to Ireland, and while I back them to be better in this series, I tip the tourists to slump to a third consecutive defeat.

India would have hoped to have arrived for the first match in their five-game series with England on the back of a positive run after beating Ireland twice.

Despite arriving for the series as the massive favourites, India could not find a way past their plucky opponents. Bowling first, they restricted Ireland to 182/9 in the first T20, while they were better in the second T20, with Ireland closing on 154/8. However, they fell 34 runs short in the first T20 before losing by a single run in the second T20. While T20 cricket can be a cruel game, India would have backed themselves to bounce back from their shock loss in the first T20, but this was something they failed to do.

This India side is crammed full of quality, but do they have the players to dig the touring side out of a hole if things are going against them? In their first T20, I predict they will be better than they were against Ireland. However, I do not see them winning this one as they slump to a third consecutive loss.