England vs India 1st T20 match abandoned due to rain (Image: BCCI)

India’s opening T20 match against England at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street was abandoned without a single ball being bowled in the second innings as the outfield was unfit for play due to persistent rain.Winning the toss, India chose to bat first and recovered from a poor start to post a competitive score of 189/7 in the allotted 20 overs thanks to an explosive half-century from Abhishek Sharma and a captaincy innings from Shreyas Iyer. However, the final say was the weather as England could not start chasing the target of 190 runs due to continuous rain.India’s innings got off to a bad start as Saqib Mahmood struck early to dismiss Sanju Samson, while Ishan Kishan was run out due to a mix-up, leaving the visitors struggling at 6/2.With India under pressure, Abhishek Sharma launched a breathtaking counterattack. The left-handed batsman shattered England’s fast bowlers with a fearless display of strokeplay and completed his half-century in just 20 balls. Additionally, he also became the fastest batsman from a full member country to complete 100 sixes in T20 Internationals.

Partnership for Abhishek and Shreyas

Abhishek and Iyer added 82 runs for the third wicket to take control of the innings. The opener was eventually dismissed after scoring a brilliant 59 off 24 balls, which included six fours and four sixes, before being dismissed LBW by Sam Curran.After Abhishek was out, captain Shreyas Iyer took the responsibility in the middle overs. Combining calculated aggression with sensible strike rotation, the right-handed batsman scored 68 runs from 47 balls, which included six fours and a six. During his innings, Iyer also crossed the 5,000 international runs mark and became the latest Indian batsman to achieve the feat.Although Saqib Mahmood dismissed Iyer and returned with impressive figures of 3/33, India got valuable runs late through Shivam Dubey. The all-rounder remained unbeaten on 42 off just 21 balls, hitting three sixes and two fours to take the visitors to 189/7.

rain spoiled the game

England never got the opportunity to start their reply. Heavy rain fell immediately after the innings break and continued throughout the evening, leaving the ground staff unable to prepare the playing surface before the cut-off time. As a result, the match was officially abandoned without a single ball being bowled in England’s innings, leaving both teams to settle for no result.Brief Score: India 189/7 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 68, Abhishek Sharma 59, Shivam Dubey 42*; Saqib Mahmood 3/33).