Winning the toss England made the obvious decision of putting India in to bat first on what appeared to be a batting paradise. After a six and a four off the first over, Saqib Mahmood led the fight back by dismissing Sanju Samson and Tilak Verma on back to back deliveries. He was not quite done as Suryakumar’s dismissal on the last ball of the second over meant that he finished his first over as a triple wicket maiden – the first ever Englishman to achieve the feat. Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma ensured they consolidated post that getting India to a respectable 47/3 by the end of the powerplay. Just as it appeared that the latter would open up his arms, he holed out to Jacob Bethall for 29. Rinku followed suit when his laboured 26-ball 30 came to an end in the 11th over with the scoreboard reading 79/5. The onus was on Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube who took their time to settle down but went all out as they settled into the game. It started off with Pandya smashing two sixes of Mahmood in a 16 run over before smashing Jofra for 17 in the next over. Jamie Overton went for 20 in the 18th over but sent Pandya (53) packing on the last ball. England ensured that they did not endure too much more damage conceding just 15 off the last 12 balls to set themselves a target of 182.
Much like their Indian counterparts, England got off to a quick start with Phil Salt getting two boundaries off Arshdeep in the first over. After Pandya and Arsheep conceded 11 and 13 respectively off the next two overs, Suryakymar Yadav was forced to bring on Varun Chakravarthy inside the powerplay. The move worked with just five runs coming off the over but it was quickly undone with Axar yielded 16 runs off the next one. Ravi Bishnoi finally provided the hosts with the first breakthrough claiming the wicket of Ben Duckett (39) on the last ball of the powerplay that had cost India 62 runs. Over the next nine balls though, India came roaring back sending both Phil Salt and Jos Buttler back to the pavilion. By the end of the 10th over, the game seemed to be evenly poised with the scorecard reading 86/3. In a surprising turn of events, Harshit Rana was brought on as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube and the debutant managed to dismiss Livingstone on just his second delivery. Harry Brook brought up his fifty in just 25 balls before scooping a Varun Chakravarthy, who also claimed the scalp of Brydon Carse, delivery straight down the throat of Arshdeep Singh. With 25 needed off 12 deliveries, Rana dismissed Overton leaving his compatriot 19 to defend in the last over. Arshdeep needed just three deliveries to dismiss Mahmood and hand India the win by 15 runs.
What a debut!
Whenever life gives you a chance grab it like harshit rana !!
Was the part of the t20i squad from half and year . Got trolled after bgt , but this is what he is !!! What a bowler pic.twitter.com/fm6Ce5Lrxl— Ronnie | Roshan (@ThugArex) January 31, 2025
Brilliant!
Harshit Rana 💥♥️#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/g923V4mWBQ
— Cricketwallah (@_Cricketwallah) January 31, 2025
He did it so well!
Harshit Rana 💥♥️#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/g923V4mWBQ
— Cricketwallah (@_Cricketwallah) January 31, 2025
Hahaha!
Harshit Rana to England Cricket Team pic.twitter.com/yq6WzFYCsr
— Akassh (@BhoolNaJaana) January 31, 2025
Yeahhh budddy!
Harshit Rana cooked england 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/hy84NpPB51
— Gowtham (@gowtham7gowth) January 31, 2025
Great debut!
3 Wickets 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 pic.twitter.com/gzOsweb2Je
— Gambhir 𓃵 (@Karn975) January 31, 2025
LOL! Hilarious this was!
Gautam Gambhir ne international match me impact player khila diya .#INDvsENG
— 🇮🇳Cricket🇮🇳 (@amante_cricket) January 31, 2025
Shhhhhhh!
Gambhir thought England won’t realize it’s Harshit and not Ramandeep because of the smog. 💀
— Manya (@CSKian716) January 31, 2025
Hahaha!
Gautam Gambhir after watching Shivam Dubey batting :#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/BZfkSm3A8z
— Tanishq Ganu (@smart__leaks) January 31, 2025
He looks good there!
Gambhir angrily clapping for Dube’s 50 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/AEKEbN0l8d
— 🖤 (@ameye_17) January 31, 2025
