India ease to win in Pune
India overcame a slight wobble to ease to a five-wicket win over England in the first of two Twenty20 internationals in Pune on Thursday.
Full Scorecard: India v England
Tim Bresnan (2-26) gave England a glimmer of hope of defending a below-par total, dismissing both openers in the same over, to have India two down with 44 on the board.
But the hosts never looked in real trouble, even in losing three more wickets, as first Yuvraj Singh contributed 38 with the bat off 21, before he lost concentration and fell to Luke Wright, caught in the deep.
Virat Kohli then added 21, while Suresh Raina (26) combined with Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take India to within spitting distance of victory.
Dhoni hit the winning runs with 13 balls to go, finishing on 24.
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Earlier, three wickets for Man-of-the-Match Yuvraj restricted England to 157 for six after they were inserted by India.
Yuvraj finished with 3-19, halting England's charge after Alex Hales (56) and Luke Wright (34) added 78 runs for the second wicket off only seven overs. The all-rounder picked up both batsmen, as well as Luke Wright inside 15 deliveries to turn the innings, as England only added 57 runs thereafter off the last 44 balls.
Josh Buttler added an unbeaten cameo 21-ball 33 at the end to lift the total somewhat.
Ashok Dinda bagged 2-18 off his three overs.
The second T20 will be played in Mumbai on Saturday.
INDIA: G Gambhir, AM Rahane, V Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, SK Raina, RA Jadeja, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), R Ashwin, PP Chawla, AB Dinda, P Awana
ENGLAND: AD Hales, MJ Lumb, LJ Wright, EJG Morgan (capt), SR Patel, JC Buttler (wk), TT Bresnan, JC Tredwell, SC Meaker, DR Briggs, JW Dernbach
