The match was quite a challenge for England, and their batting lineup was tested thoroughly by India’s disciplined bowling. India successfully kept the English within a small total of just 165 runs and thus took the match with a commanding nine-wicket victory. This match on January 25, 2025, had shown that the English batsmen were not capable of building partnerships or gaining momentum against a well-executed Indian bowling display.
The England innings began badly, and Indian bowlers took little time to settle. Opener bowlers, spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, were spot-on from the beginning, and that made it really tough for the top order of England to get settled. More importantly, Bumrah was outstanding and was keeping pressure all the while by maintaining his good line and length, whereas Arshdeep Singh provided important breakthroughs at appropriate times. England’s openers failed to capitalise through the early overs as both got dismissed within the first 10 overs.
The middle order was not much better. Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan, England’s match-winners, couldn’t break loose. Malan is a regular in T20 format who has constantly batted well in the format; he batted very poorly in this game and was also dismissed early, failed to get into rhythm against tight Indian bowling. Buttler is known for his explosive batting and was required to play a more sedate knock but, in the end, could not anchor the innings as wickets fell regularly. India’s bowlers, especially Hardik Pandya, kept the English batsmen on their toes by not giving them any room to attack.
The lower middle order, which included guys like Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, offered some resistance, but it was too little too late. The pressure building up meant that the clear-clear, bound-bound shot-choice became shaky and Moeen Ali lost his wicket in the latter half of the innings. Sam Curran, an all-rounder most of the times, also got stuck in a similar kind of situation. Like others, he did not get much of an opportunity to settle against the onslaught of Indian bowlers.
The pitch at the venue was rather challenging for the Englishmen and could not be accommodated by their batsmen. Their attempts were not enough to free them from the tight grip of Indian bowlers. Their total of 165 was certainly not impressive, with the depth in their batting line-up and their normal reputation in this format. Certainly, this total was no way near what it would have taken to trouble the Indian batting line-up, and with the standard of bowlers India has.
As the game progressed, the lack of partnerships for England was mirrored by their struggles with the bat. The Indian bowlers choked the scoring opportunities well, which frustrated the England batsmen. Their inability to capitalize on good starts and repeated dismissals were key reasons behind their inability to post a competitive total.
England had an aggregate score of 165 because India’s bowling unit constantly pressed them hard in the innings, and all plans were successfully implemented. It reminded cricket enthusiasts that, like in the other versions of cricket, partnerships do matter in T20 cricket, as well as responding to the condition. Thus, with this loss, England would have to change their approach more effectively when playing against such a strong team in the coming games.