Key events
Curran keeps India in sight but rain halts England reply
Simon Burnton
A week after they were playing with a red ball in a heatwave, England’s white-ball summer started with a washout. Rain was falling within minutes of play getting under way, though it was light enough for long enough for India to bat out their 20 overs, but conditions worsened moments after their innings ended, as these things often do, with a chaotic runout and England never got the chance to chase their target of 190.
What play there was provided some encouragement for both sides, with Abhishek Sharma and the captain, Shreyas Iyer, scoring half-centuries for India, Saqib Mahmood taking three wickets on his return to the England side – the Lancashire seamer last played a T20 international in January 2025, thanks mainly to a knee injury sustained last September – and England feeling they had restricted their opponents to a below-par total of 189 for seven.
When these sides last met, in the T20 World Cup semi-finals earlier this year, India’s top three all scored half-centuries and the team’s tally was an already-daunting 203 before the second wicket fell. Here two of those three were out before the second over was complete, Sanju Samson excellently caught by Tom Banton at backward point having scored only one and Ishan Kishan run out second ball without even managing that.
But that still left Abhishek, who set about making up for those early failures. Mahmood, bowler of that successful second over, returned for another and this time he went for 21, with Abhishek pulling once for four and twice for six. A trio of Abhishek fours followed in the next over and India were back on track.
By the end of the powerplay India were 61 for two and Abhishek had scored 49 of them, as Iyer made a relatively sedate start. Since being appointed captain before this tour Iyer had scored three and 10 as his side were beaten 2-0 in Ireland, and beyond ending that run of defeats he would also have been desperate to demonstrate the fluency he insisted pre-match he was feeling with the bat.
And in the end he did so. Abhishek was trapped lbw by Sam Curran in the ninth over, having scored 10 boundaries including four sixes on his way to 59 off 24. Iyer took 38 balls to reach his half-century and in nine more took his score to 68 before he missed a straight one from Mahmood in the penultimate over and was trapped lbw. Shivam Dube powered his way to 42 off 21, but this would be an evening dominated not by a stream of boundaries but by a nagging veil of rain.
Match abandoned
James Wallace
I’m afraid that’s it in Durham. They’ve called it with the rain falling heavily still, ain’t no chance they are getting back out there. The first game of five is washed out, let’s hope for better conditions in Manchester for the second match on Saturday.
We’ll humanely knock this one on the head. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
Weather Watch: I’m afraid to report that it is still raining in Durham. My sources tell me we need to be on the field at 9pm in order to sneak a five over match in. Even that is looking a long shot unless the wet stuff abates sharpish.
The rain is falling very heavily in Durham now. Not to be a smug pr wotsit but it isn’t where I am and so I’m going to use the delay to go and water my veg patch.
An official update from the ECB regarding Phil Salt:
“Salt is off the field with a jarred shoulder when diving in the field. As it is an external blow, he will be able to open batting”
If it stops raining.
The rain is falling more heavily now in Durham and the outer covers are coming on. We’ll have a delay to the restart here.
India 189-7 from 20 overs
Jos Buttler misjudges a skied catch and is too casual moving from behind the stumps to square leg, he ends up having to dive at full stretch and spills the catch, Dube gets away with it. Its a costly miss, Dube then wipes Curran across the line for SIX. Axar Patel is run out off the final ball heading for a non existent second run, the rain is falling more steadily now and the covers are being hauled on to coincide with the end of India’s innings.
That’s a very decent total, England will have to go some to haul it in.
20th over: India 189-7 (Dube 42)
19th over: India 179-6 (Dube 34, Patel 1) Axar Patel is the new man, he does his job and gets a single to get Dube on strike. Shot! A wristy drive bisects the fielders at cover and extra to give Dube his fourth boundary. Rashid finishes with 1-39 from his four overs. We have got one ove left to go in this innings, Harry Brook tosses the ball to Sam Curran to bowl it. Buckle up.
WICKET! Harshit Rana st Buttler b Rashid 0 (India 174-6)
Dangerman Dube slams Rashid down the ground for SIX and then nudges a single. Rana tries to re-enact the big one, charging down the wicket and completely beaten in the flight. Buttler does the rest with ease.
18th over: India 165-5 (Dube 21, Rana 0) Harshit Rana is the new man. Mahmood finishes with 3-33 off his four. Impressive. Adil Rashid is going to bowl the penultimate over for England.
WICKET! Shreyas Iyer lbw b Mahmood 68 (India 165-5)
Gone! Iyer aims a moose across the line and misses, the ball thuds into his pad and the finger goes up.
17th over: India 158-4 (Iyer 63, Dube 19) Great contest between Dube and Rashid. The batter wins the first by skipping down and launching a SIX back over the bowler’s head. Rashid foxes him with the next ball, a googly that sees Buttler whip off the bails but the long limbed Dube had managed to get his bat back back in time. Three overs left, what can India post? There is light rain falling as it has most of the innings, I am sure the ball is getting more like a bar of Imperial Leather with each over.
16th over: India 149-4 (Iyer 63, Dube 11) Wood returns for his third and gets some more tap! Dube clips off his legs for four and then Iyer plays a remarkable cover drive for SIX! Down on one knee as he played the shot, hold the pose!
15th over: India 135-4 (Iyer 55, Dube 5) Iyer drives for four off Dawson and brings up his fifty, its a muted celebration, he looks like a man who knows he needs to kick on, get a big score and post a commanding total.
14th over: India 125-4 (Iyer 49, Dube 1) Top over from Mahmood, just four runs and the wicket off it. Shivam Dube is the new man for India, he gets off the mark with a sketchy leading edge up to mid on. Lucky lad.
Elsewhere, England have levelled things up against DRC! 1-1 with ten minutes left to play…
WICKET! Tilak Varma c Dawson b Mahmood 13 (India 124-4)
A bodged scoop from Varma off a full toss loops to Dawson and England are chipping away.
13th over: India 121-3 (Iyer 47, Varma 12) Shreyas Iyer picks up Sam Curran for four through the leg side, a lovely touch shot. Iyer closes in on a half century of his own, ten in total off Curran’s over. We might see India start to give it some humpty now, they’ve got wickets in the hutch to play with.
12th over: India 111-3 (Iyer 39, Varma 11) Jordan Cox rifles in a throw from the deep to make Tilak Varma get a wriggle on as two runs are collected to midwicket. Cox’s throw is a direct hit but Varma makes his ground, just. Jacks spears one onto Iyer’s pad and England go up for the lbw but it isn’t given on the field. Brook consults and sends it upstairs… NOT OUT, there a flick on the glove and England lose a review. A steady six runs off the over.
11th over: India 105-3 (Iyer 35, Varma 9) Varma picks Rashid’s googly and hacks it into the leg side for four. Rashid gives it some air and finds some purchase, just six in total off the over but 100 up for India. Jacks is coming back for the next.
10th over: India 99-3 (Iyer 34, Varma 4) Liam Dawson back for his second over. He drives the ball into the surface and gets away with two shorter balls that are clubbed to the boundary rider on the leg side. Iyer and Varma rotate strike but they can’t find the boundary. Seven runs off the over and time for a slurp of electrolytes. Drinks.
It ain’t going well for England’s footballers btw…
9th over: India 92-3 (Iyer 29, Varma 2) Tilak Varma joins Shreyas Iyer. Curran mixes it up with a slower ball and is almost out top edging his first ball but it just plooops safe in front of Rashid at fine leg. Lucky, lucky. Decent over from Curran, got the breakthrough and just five runs off it.
WICKET! Abhishek Sharma lbw b Curran 59 (India 88-3)
Curran strikes! The partnership of 82 is broken and a flying Abishek has his wings clipped. The umpire said no but Brook sent it upstairs where DRS showed three reds and the ball smashing out leg stump.
8th over: India 87-2 ( Sharma 59, Iyer 26) Jacks continues. Iyer opens the shoulders, carving through the off side and then launching a big one downtown for SIX! A pure and clean swing. England need a wicket, 15 off the over and Sam Curran is being summoned.
7th over: India 72-2 ( Sharma 52, Iyer 18) Iyer threads the gap in the leg side to get Rashid away for four after Sharma respectfully drives a single into the off side to go to a 20 ball fifty. Two more worked into the leg side from Sharma, 11 off the over in total and India’s run rate up above tens now.
James Wallace
6th over: India 61-2 ( Sharma 49, Iyer 10) Thanks Tanya, hello all. Abishek Sharma is doing a rescue job for India in Durham. He rocks back and smashed Jacks through the leg side for four. There’s a bit of drizzle falling in the North East by the looks of it but they are fine to play on in it. Here comes Adil Rashid!
5th over: India 52-2 ( Sharma 44, Iyer 6) Sharma hits three stunning fours, tripping the light fantastic and wristily dispatching Luke Wood. A diving Phil Salt prevents a fourth on the trot. This should be fun – handing back over to Jim now – enjoy!
4th over: India 36-2 ( Sharma 29, Iyer 5) Sharma practises his swivel turn with four pulled over fine leg, then six, gloriously into the crowd where a man in a white Tshirt collects it at the second attempt. Then a second consecutive six into the clouds – incredible really, it wasn’t even a clean hit but still cleared the hits. And Iyer completes Mahmood’s misery by square cutting him for four to make it 21 from the over.
3rd over: India 15-2 ( Sharma 12, Iyer 1) India have got a severe case of ants in their pants – two other running mix ups in just the one Dawson over. They’ve struggled to pierce the ring of tight England fielders who are on their game. However Sharma does manage to slam a free-flowing six over the covers.
WICKET! Kishan run out (Brook-Buttler) 0 (India 6-2)
Crazy cricket – Kishan tonks to mid-on where Harry Brook picks up and throws to Buttler who whips off the bails while a stranded Kishan is sprawled in the dust short of his crease. He’s not too happy walking off.
2nd over: India 6-2 ( Sharma 4) An eventful Saqib Mahmood over: a wicket, a wide, a run out.
WICKET! Samson c Banton b Mahmood 1 (India 6-1)
An aggressive drive and a double handed dive-n-grab at backward point by Tom Banton.
1st over: India 5-0 (Samson 1, Sharma 4) India’s opening pair are the two Ss: right handed Samson, left handed Sharma (not that one). The left-armed Luke Wood has a little shake of his wrist at the Finchdale end while Samson waits for something in his eye line to be readjusted. Grabs a single from his third ball and Sharma unfurls a pitch perfect lofted drive for four.
The floodlights are on at Durham and there are sizeable pockets of slightly disappointed India fans who were hoping to see Sooryavanshi. Here comes Harry Brook, leading England onto the field only two days after he lost the Test series with England in that chaotic emotional last day and a bit.
Tanya here, just sitting in for Jim briefly. Do contact me on tanya.aldred.freelance@guardian.co.uk if you have any thoughts. Doesn’t look too hot at Chester le Street today and there might be a spot of rain about.
England XI
England: Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Saqib Mahmood
India XI – still no Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c) Tilak Varma, Harshit Rana, Shivan Duber, Axar Patel, Ravid Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Charkravarthy.
India win the toss and will bat!
Shreyas Iyer says its his second series as captain and he’s excited. The Ireland series is history and they’ve learnt lessons. He says there is a decent amount of grass on the surface. Going with three spinners. Harry Brook would have bowled, so he’s happy too.
Elsewhere, this week’s Spin column written by some eejit:
Root’s early evening ramp off Nathan Smith on Saturday was a beautiful, even emotional moment. Here was the sensible man on the stag do with his top off, dancing on the bar. Here was Root, for one last time the Sundance Kid to Stokes’s Butch Cassidy, joining his partner in running head first into a hail of bullets. Anything for you, old pal.
Root is now the only player who survives from that first Bazball Test at Lord’s in 2022. Further still, he’s seen Cook, Anderson, Broad and now Stokes leave the scene. But he will play on, shepherding new faces with a half an eye on Sachin in the distance. England have one all-time great remaining. His best mate departing in a blaze, Joe Root stands alone among the embers.”
Good news for England ahead of their huge semi-final match against South Africa tomorrow:
Find out more about India’s 16 year old batting marvel:
James Wallace
I suppose we just crack on with more cricket eh?
Ben Stokes may have departed the international scene in a Nottingham blaze a matter of days ago but the circus heads to Durham with a different captain (soon to be the captain?) different opponents and a different coloured ball.
So begins a five-match T20I series against India that will attract plenty of eyeballs around the world, some might even be tuning in for the action on the field.
Will India play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – The Six Hittin’ Kid – after leaving the teenage phenomenon on the bench against Ireland? That didn’t go so well for the boys in blue, Ireland pulled off a historic 2-0 series sweep on home turf. Beware the wounded tiger?
I have hunch we may well see India field their youngest ever international player at Chester-le-Street this evening, beware in the stands!
Play begins at 5.30pm, we’ll have the toss and confirmed teams at 5pm. Please do get in touch, there’s plenty to discuss, isn’t there?