England deserving winners at the end of the day: Virat Kohli

England made a solid start to the T20 series with a thumping win over hosts India in the first T20I at Kanpur. Virat Kohli led the Indian team in a T20I for the first time. He would have surely liked an opposite result. Going into the match, England had the winning momentum after having won the last ODI at Kolkata. However, the bigger picture saw India walk in as the clear favorites for the match. India had a poor start with KL Rahul getting out cheaply.

Kohli, Suresh Raina, and MS Dhoni, all got starts but none could play the knock that would impact the scorecard. With 147 on the board, the target never looked enough against a long English lineup. The English openers – Sam Billings and Jason Roy – got off to a flier before Yuzvendra Chahal brought India back in the game with his twin strike. However, skipper Morgan’s fifty was enough to help the visitors go over the line in the match.

It was only unfortunate that Morgan couldn’t take the side over the line. But there was another senior batsman, Joe Root, who ensured England cruised past the target. Root scored an unbeaten run-a-ball 46. He commended the efforts of Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy after the match. He also rued the fact that he had to miss the Kolkata ODI.

“Yeah. Good day. It was a shame to miss the last One-dayer. It is nice to come back here and make an impact. With the ball we kept taking wickets, put them under pressure and not let them have partnerships. Then with the bat, we knew we wanted one big partnership. Not necessarily the prettiest, especially from me. We got the job done. It is great to see them play with such confidence,” quoted Root.

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“Obviously, Jason is coming on the back of a good One-day series. I hope he takes the confidence forward for the rest of the series. You would like to think bowling first didn’t matter. It did play a little bit better under lights. There was some variable bounce with the new ball while batting first. In the end a good toss to win. It wasn’t my most fluent knock but Morgs (Morgan) took all the pressure off me,” he added further.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli lauded the efforts of the English team. He cited that the England bowlers hit the right lengths and bowled precise lines. He also spoke about Yuzvendra Chahal, who bagged 2/27 in his four overs. Furthermore, Virat Kohli remarked that the seniors need to take the pressure off the youngsters.

“Yeah certainly, England have played better cricket than us today. We accept that. With the ball, in the field and with the bat, they were precise. Deserving winners at the end of the day. You have to stand up and applaud the opposition when they play well. Today England performed the way we know they can. Credit to their bowlers for bowling hard lengths, they extracted pace and bounce. As I said, they were precise. Explosive start at the top. We pulled things back nicely but we were probably 30-35 runs short on that pitch. There are things we need to address and learn from this game,” said Virat Kohli.

“I have confidence in him (Chahal). Plays with me in RCB. Bowls with the new ball there as well with mid-on and mid-off up. He has the wicket-taking ability and is confident in his skills. He’s the guy who pulled us back in the game. Youngster showing character is always a positive sign. This is a format you need to enjoy and have to play at your intense best. The opposition can upset you at any stage as we have seen in T20 cricket. I think we have played some really good cricket this season and deserve to enjoy these T20s. We have a young side, important for them to enjoy. It’s upto us seniors to take the load off them,” Virat Kohli conceded further.

English skipper scored a match winning fifty on the day that set the tone for the runchase. He was a mighty pleased man. Morgan commended the bowlers, Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan, for taking up the responsibilty. He looked happy at the competition for places in the line up.

“I thought our bowlers were outstanding tonight. Everybody executed the plans. Ali in particular showed great resolve on a wicket which wasn’t turning much. Showed a lot of experience. Also the two guys who have came into the squad, who weren’t involved in the ODIs, Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan put their hands up too. They executed beautifully and made it hard for the Indian batsmen on what was a small ground again,” said Eoin Morgan.

“Great to get another result tonight. Whenever you’re chasing a low total, getting off to a flier is a huge positive. Releases the pressure on the guys coming in. Allows them to take more time and control the chase a bit more. Sam hasn’t played a great deal on this tour but has taken the two chances he’s had. There’s always competition for places which is great to see,” Morgan added.

Moeen Ali was named the Man of the Match for his brilliant spell in the middle overs. Ali returned with figures of 2/21 that choked the Indian middle order. He noted that he did not try anything different other than the usual.

“I think as a bowling unit we were fantastic, fielded very well and the way the guys batted was fantastic. Just pleased to be 1-0 up. Going to be a big next 2 games. I’ve been bowling quite well in the ODIs. Took some confidence from the ODIs. Didn’t do much different to be honest. I’ve been in the same situation before where I’ve not bowled but it’s a team game (talking about Rashid not getting a bowl). Next time hopefully he’ll get a bowl,” marked Ali.