Highlights, India vs England, 1st T20I at Old Trafford: KL Rahul's ton powers visitors to 8-wicket win

India vs England, 1st T20I, latest score and updates: Rahul’s second T20 hundred has sealed the game for India… it outlines India’s dominance today. England have been stunned here in Manchester. India lead 1-0. Preview: After a crushing 2-0 victory over minnows Ireland, India led by Virat Kohli will be up against a formidable England in the first of the three-match Twenty20 International series (T20Is) at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Indian cricket team’s supremacy in shorter formats is redoubtable but India will have their task cut out against a vastly improved England in the opening T20 International in what will be a defining summer for Virat Kohli and his team. [caption id=“attachment_4658261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File images of England, Indian captains Eoin Morgan and Virat Kohli. AFP[/caption] While India has been a consistent limited-overs side over the past 6-7 years, England has of late lifted their game in coloured clothes by miles, thanks to a group of fantastic limited overs players like Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, and Ben Stokes. Going into today’s series opener, India is expected to play around with set combinations which means Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma teaming up at the top of the order. With veteran Suresh Raina in great hitting form at No 3, and skipper Kohli at No.4, it will be interesting to see if the team management includes the in-form Lokesh Rahul in the middle order. All eyes will also be on the former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was in great touch in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for eventual champions Chennai Super Kings. While Manish Pandey is in running for the fourth spot on account of his good run in international T20 cricket. Batting late in the order, he boasts of 276 runs in 10 matches at average 92 and strike-rate 127.18. These numbers are hard to ignore. On the bowling front, Jasprit Bumrah’s thumb injury will be a concern as he has played a big role with his death overs bowling. It will be interesting to see whether his replacement, Deepak Chahar, gets his maiden cap even though senior pro Umesh Yadav looks a more likely replacement. Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have proven their worth in Ireland and look certain to play against England in the first T20Is. England, meanwhile, made a few strategic changes by putting assistant coach Paul Farbrace in charge of the T20 team for the Australia and India series, while head coach Trevor Bayliss simultaneously took to domestic cricket scouting. England’s recent ploy to promote Jos Buttler as an opener worked in fine fashion as he struck the quickest T20I half-century by an English batsman, with a 22-ball 50, that included six fours and five sixes against the hapless Kangaroos. Buttler continued from where he left in the IPL, where he struck five successive half-centuries for the Rajasthan Royals and finished the tournament with 548 runs from 13 matches at a strike-rate of 155.24. He will be India’s greatest threat, albeit the likes of Roy and Alex Hales also add a lot of firepower to the English top-order. India and England recent performance T20Is Going by current form, both sides are at par on paper, with India having won 15 of their last 20 T20 Internationals, including the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka and the bilateral away series against South Africa. England, on the other hand, will head to the series on the back of a 6-0 drubbing of Australia with Buttler, Roy, Jonny Bairstow in good form. Regrouping after almost a three-month long gap, India used the Ireland T20Is as a good warm-up, registering facile wins of 72 and 143 runs but more importantly giving the whole squad good game time before the challenging series against the Englishmen. With inputs from PTI