7.45pm: Well, India have been rpoperly brought back down to earth now. That was a really bad batting performance, where they just jept losing wickets. England bowled well, but India could have batted a lot better. It was almost as if they couldn't cope with the pressure of batting first, feeling they needed to get a bigger total that they might have needed.
Once India were restricted to 147, the England openers Roy and Billings made sure there would be only one result with that early assault, allowing Morgan and Root to cruise the away side home. Easy peasy it was for England in the end and India have a lot of bouncing back to do in the next two matches. That's it from me, do come back for more coverage from this match and please join us for the second T20 on Sunday.
7.43pm: Joe Root: Thought the guys were brilliant tonight. Kept taking wickets and then we knew it would just take one good partnership. The openers were great and it bodes well for us for the rest of the series. I did think the pitch played a little bit better in the second innings, skidded a little so it was a good toss to win in the end.
7.38pm: Root takes a single to long-on and England win the first T20 by seven wickets. (Root 46 n.o., 46b, 4x4, Stokes 2 n.o., 5b).
England finish on 148/3 in 18.1 overs. That is a win with 11 balls to spare, a proper thrashing.
7.37pm: Nehra is back and he starts with a wide. A couple follows off an ungainly shot from Root, who has gone into slog mode for some reason. Root gets a couple of boundaries in the over, over mid-on both, and this match will be done in the next over. England 146/3 in 18 overs (Root 45, Stokes 2) 1 from 12 balls.
7.32pm: Bumrah now and with the equation easy as pie, it is just a matter of when, even if that when will be without Root in the middle, or maybe not.
Wicket, Root gone! Or at least he should be. For the second consecutive game, Bumrah bowls a no-ball while picking up a wicket. Shouldn't be happening, unpardonable and Kohli and Anil Kumble needs to let the bowler know that. Free hit Root is bowled again, but you can't be out on a free hit can you. England 132/3 in 17 overs (Root 32, Stokes 3). 16 from 18 balls.
7.25pm: Ben Stokes the new batsman, comes at a time when England have it easy. England 129/3 in 16 overs (Root 31, Stokes 1). 19 from 24 balls.
7.22pm: First ball from Rasool is an awful one, a hit-me-please short ball and Morgan obliges with a big six over midwicket, bringing up his half-century in 37 balls. Next ball though,
Wicket, Morgan (51, 38b, 1x4, 4x6) gone! Goes for another big shot. but this ball is fuller and wider and he hits it to Raina at long-off. Good innings from the captain, even if he will feel he should have seen the match through. First wicket for India for Rasool. England 126/3 in 15.2 overs (Root 29).
7.20pm: Almost gone is Morgan as he goes for another six to the wide long-on/deep midwicket area. Doesn;t get it off the middle this time off Chahal and Raina takes the catch in the deep. His momentum, though, takes him over the ropes, so Raina has to throw the ball back in to prevent it being a six. England 120/2 in 15 overs (Root 29, Morgan 45). 28 from 30 balls.
7.16pm: Another six from Morgan to the same area, another comfortable over, this time bowled by Rasool. Required run rate now below six. England 114/2 in 14 overs (Root 27, Morgan 41). 34 from 36 balls.
7.12pm: Pandya continues ans so do the runs. Root gets going in this one with a boundary through the offside, walks down the pitch and spanks it for four. England 103/2 in 13 overs (Root 24, Morgan 33). 45 from 42 balls.
7.08pm: Raina is back and Root brings out the reverse-sweep for a couple. Morgan then uses that willow of his to great use, smashing a short ball from Raina for a six to wide long-on. Really comfortable this for the two experienced batsmen, who bring up the 50 partnership as well. England 94/2 in 12 overs (Root 19, Morgan 31). 54 from 48 balls.
7.05pm: Hardik Pandya for the first time. Decent over, but India need wickets, because England will cruise this otherwise. England 82/2 in 11 overs (Root 15, Morgan 23). 66 from 54 balls.
6.59pm: Chahal is back and Root greets him with a beautiful shot. Down the track and driven through extra cover for a gorgeous four. A single then brings Morgan on strike and the England captain whacks Chahal for a big six, slow sweep perfectly connected. England 76/2 (Root 13, Morgan 21) 72 from 60 balls.
6.55pm: Bumrah is back after his 20-run nightmare. Two dot balls he starts with, and then a single brings Root on strike. Two more dot balls follow before a single off the final ball. Just two from that over after going for 20 in his first. England 64/2 in 9 overs (Root 8, Morgan 14) 84 from 66 balls.
6.50pm: Suresh Raina comes in. More risk-free cricket from Morgan and Root, five singles. England doing this easily. England 62/2 in 8 overs (Root 7, Morgan 13) 86 from 72 balls.
6.47pm: Rasool continues. Was gettting bogged down was Morgan, so he takes a calculated risk, something modern-day batsmen are great at. Just makes room for himself and lofts the ball over extra cover for a boundary. Three singles and a couple after that makes it a good over for the batting side. England 57/2 in 7 overs (Root 5 Morgan 10). 91 from 78 balls.
6.43pm: Calm now after the early storm from the England openers. Two singles. England 48/2 in 6 overs (Root 4, Morgan 2). 100 from 84 balls. Powerplay done and dusted.
6.41pm: More spin from debutant Rasool. Root and Morgan take no risks. England 46/2 in 5 overs (Root 3, Morgan 1). 102 from 90 balls.
6.35pm: Kohli seems to have a lot on his mind here as the makes another misfield, allowing Root to get off the mark.
Wicket, Billings (22, 10b, 3x4, 1x6) gone! Over attacking here are England and that works against them. Billings comes down the track, yorks himself, the ball slides below his bat and smashes into the stumps. Double strike for Chahal! England 43/2 in 3.5 overs (Root 1).
Eoin Morgan comes in and defends the last ball of the over. England 43/2 in 4 overs (Root 1, Morgan 0).
6.33pm: Kohli hopes a bit of spin might help as Yuzvendra Chahal comes in. First ball, Roy plays a slog sweep and the ball soars for a six. Next ball..
Wicket, Roy (19, 11b, 2x6) gone! Goes for a big, booming shot through the offside, onyl gets an inside edge and the ball hits leg-stump. India needed that wicket. England 42/1 in 3.2 overs (Billings 22). Joe Root the new batsman.
6.31pm: England making it look ridiculously easy here as Roy starts the Nehra over off with a flick for a couple to the onside. Then Roy goes bang straight back for a big six! Just a perfect flow of the bat and the ball goes long. Lot of conversation over what to do as a few fielding changes are made. A dot ball follows as the ball stays low. But, that dot ball is ruined by a wide down the legside. A single to deep square is taken by Roy before Billings takes one to mid-on. Another single off the last ball. England 36/0 in 3 overs (Roy 13, Billings 22). 112 from 17 overs.
6.24pm: Just over the offside field from Billings off the first ball from Jasprit Bumrah and he has his first boundary. Second delivery is also just cleared as the ball goes over mid-on for another boundary. Two to third man follows as Billings makes his intentions clear. Much clearer it becomes next ball as Billings plays the dilscoop all the way for a six. That's 4, 4, 2, 6, 0, 4 from the over as Billings finishes the over off with a four to square leg. England 24/0 in 2 overs (Billings 21, Roy 3).
6.20pm: First ball is pushed to mid-on by Roy. Drives next and gets off the mark with a two as Kohli misfields in the covers. Same shot again, but this time Kohli doesn't make a mistake. Decent first over from Nehra. England 4/0 in 1 over (Roy 3, Billings 1).
6.15pm: The players are out. Jason Roy and Sam Billings to open for England. Ashish Nehra to open the bowling for India.
6.08pm: A near-perfect bowling innings from England that. Got all their plans right and Adil Rashid wasn't even used. India will need a perfect bowling effort to defend this, because the wicket, while not as flat as first thought, doesn't have any demons in it. Back in a few.
6.07 pm: Moeen Ali: We did well to restrict them to below 150. In general I try and ball back of a length especially on this wicket which is skidding on a little bit. Big ground, lots of twos and threes, but the wicket is quite nice.
6.05pm: India finish their innings on 147/7 in 20 overs (Dhoni 36 n.o., 27b, 3x4).
6.02pm: Last over of the innings. Bowled by Jordan. Could have been a run out as Dhoni forces Rasool to go for the two in order to stay on strike. The former skipper finally gets one off the middle as he smashes a full ball straight back past Jordan for a boundary. About time! First boundary after 23 balls.
Consecutive fours as Dhoni slices one to point. Dhoni knew the ball would be wide after the previous one and he was ready for it.
Wicket, Rasool (5, 6b) gone! Absolutely smashes this to extra cover. Dhoni doesn't want the single, Rasool is well out of his crease, easy run out.
Again, straight to the fielder, this time mid-off, as Dhoni says no to another single.
Last ball now. Yorker and Dhoni hits it straight. Two runs taken.
5.59pm: Mills again. Single only from Dhoni first ball, pushed to deep point. Rasool follows with a single to long-on. India need boundaries here, but England are bowling really well here. A couple from Dhoni third ball with a help past short fine. Mills has got really good variations and he is showing them. Follows up a slow short ball with a quicker one, which catches Dhoni by surprise. India camper for a leg-bye. Rasool hasn't even tried to go for a big shot yet, as he takes another single. The over is finished off with, yup, you guessed it, another single. India 135/6 in 19 overs (Dhoni 24, Rasool 5).
5.55pm: England's other death overs specialist Chris Jordan comes in. Single, two, dot, single, leg bye, single. Brilliant over from Jordan, lot of really good yorkers. India 128/6 in 18 overs (Dhoni 19, Rasool 3).
5.49pm: Just the five singles in that over to go with the wicket. India 122/6 in 17 overs (Dhoni 14, Rasool 2).
5.46pm: Wicket, Pandya (9, 12b) gone! Tymal Mills gets his first international wicket. Pandya never looked comfortable and he holes out in the deep, mistimes a shot to the offside. India 118/6 in 16.2 overs (Dhoni 13). Parvez Rasool, on debut, joins Dhoni.
5.44pm: Looks like Rashid won't get a bowl as Stokes gets into his final over. Wide, single and then a welcome boundary as Dhoni finds the gap in the offside to drive one through. Another wide after that with Dhoni taking a single to the onside. Pandya is struggling here, trying to hit the ball too hard rather than playing intelligently. Goes for a pull shot, a big swing but plays it too late and doesn't go anywhere. Stokes keeps bowling the wides, though, bailing India out in this over. India 117/5 in 16 overs (Dhoni 12, Pandya 9).
5.38pm: Plunkett to bowl his final over. Three dot balls as Pandya gets stuck and then the right-hander just eludes the midwicket fielder with a pull shot. Stokes does brilliantly to keep it to two runs. Single to third man, but that's it, just three runs off the over. India 106/5 in 15 overs (Dhoni 7, Pandya 7).
5.33pm: Moeen finishes his spell, brilliant one it is too at 4-0-21-2. India 103/5 in 14 overs (Pandya 4, Dhoni 7).
5.31pm: Last over for Moeen. Wicket, Pandey (3, 5b) gone! Flat and straight, Pandey misses the ball while going for a shot to the onside, gets struck in front and is given out lbw. What a spell this has been from Moeen. India in big trouble now. India 98/5 in 13.2 overs (Dhoni 6). Hardik Pandya comes in.
5.30pm: Chance for Manish Pandey to make an impact after sitting out the entire ODI series. Starts with a quick two the fine-leg. India 98/4 in 13 overs (Dhoni 6, Pandey 3).
5.26pm: Still no sign of Adil Rashid as Stokes returns and Raina says welcome back with a big, booming six to wide long-on -- all power that.
Next ball Wicket, Raina (34, 23b, 4x4, 1x6) gone! Yorker from Stokes and Raina is bowled around the legs. Just clips leg-stump, great comeback after getting hit for a six. Silence around Green Park as the local boy goes. India 95/4 in 12.3 overs (Dhoni 6).
5.24pm: Moeen continues. Single from Raina and then a couple to the onside from Dhoni. A single to a similar area follows. Raina gets a single fifth ball, Dhoni gets one final ball. India 88/3 in 12 overs (Dhoni 5, Raina 28).
5.21pm: Outstanding over from Plunkett, but Raina is the key here. Keeps finding the boundary, even when India are put under pressure, with the loss of wickets. This one is typical Raina -- comes down the track and lofts it over extra cover. Nearly gives it away last ball, though, as a flick almost carries to deep square leg. Falls a few metres short of Sam Billings. India 82/3 in 11 overs (Raina 26, Dhoni 1).
5.15pm: Wicket, Yuvraj (12, 13b, 1x4) gone! Goes for the help to the onside off Plunkett, gets a top edge and Rashid comes in from fine-leg to take a really good diving catch low down. India 75/3 in 10.1 overs. Dhoni now with Raina. A CSK of old partnership please.
5.14pm: Beautiful from Yuvraj. After mistiming a shot, Yuvraj goes for timing here. Just a wonderful flow of the hands and the ball races over Moeen and to the boundary. India 75/2 in 10 overs (Raina 20, Yuvraj 12).
5.12pm: Was a tidy over from Stokes for four balls, before a misfield from Plunkett, which gave the hosts two extra runs. Raina then finished the over off with a delightful glide for a boundary to backward point. India 68/2 in 9 overs (Raina 19, Yuvraj 6).
5.07 pm: Singles taken, three of them. India 58/2 in 8 overs (Raina 14, Yuvraj 2).
5.04pm: Wicket, Kohli (29. 26b, 4x4) gone! First ball from the spinner Moeen Ali and what a wicket to get. Kohli thumps this ball to midwicket, with a lot of power, and Morgan does really well to hang on. Ali has got the big fish. India 55/2 in 7.1 overs (Raina 13). Yuvraj is the new batsman.
5.02pm: Ben Stokes now. A single to start and then a couple to the onside off Raina's bat brings up India's half-century. More singles follow. India 55/1 in 7 overs (Kohli 29, Raina 13).
4.58pm: Raina gets his first boundary of the innings. Not convincing, comes down the track to Plunkett and slices one over the offside with Rashid, running in from third man, unable to stop the ball from hitting the ropes. Gets another boundary off the last ball of the over. Again, not perfectly timed, but gets enough to clear the infield and the ball rolls into the straight boundary. India 47/1 in 6 overs (Kohli 26, Raina 10). Powerplay over.
4.53pm: Raina comes in at his favourite position. He has scored loads of runs at No.3 in the IPL, can he do the same for India? Gets off the mark with a quick single to midwicket. Really good over from Jordan. India 36/1 in 5 overs (Kohli 24, Raina 1).
4.50pm: Change of ends for Jordan, who replaces Mills. On the stumps first ball and Kohli gracefully flicks it to deep square for a single.
Wicket, Rahul (8, 9b, 1x4) gone! Short ball, quick and Rahul can't control his pull shot. It loops to Adil Rashid at shirt fine, a simple catch is taken and it is another disappointing knock from the opener. India 34/1 in 4.3 overs (Kohli 23). Suresh Raina is the new man.
4.48pm: Liam Plunkett now. Kohli greets him with a couple of shots over the offside, both for a boundary. The first one wasn't time too well, no such problem with the second -- that was off the meat. This looks like a back of a length wicket. Every time it has been pitched up, the ball has disappeared. Pitch it a little shorter, though, it seems to be more difficult with one ball from Plunkett rising from nowhere to give Rahul trouble. India 33/0 in 4 overs (Kohli 22, Rahul 8).
4.44pm: Around the wicket comes Mills and Kohli pushes one to the onside for a single. First short ball from the left-arm pace bowler, which is let go by Rahul. An extra run for India as Eoin Morgan hits the stumps allowing India to take a seocnd run. Loose shot from Rahul, even in T20 cricket, just a lazy shot outside off, gets a thick edge, flies through the gully area for a single to third man. Another single to third man, this time off a steer from Kohli. India 22/0 in 3 overs (Kohli 12, Rahul 7).
4.40pm: Beautiful shot from Kohli first ball to Chris Jordan, but it is straight at backward point. No-ball, though and a free hit -- Kohli swings and misses outside offstump, a groan from the supporters at the stadium.
Wafts outside off again does Kohli, not even close to the ball that time and a couple of England fielders appeal. Tries to bring the ball in next does Jordan, but overdoes it and the ball slides down leg for a wide. Back to swinging and missing outside off. Strange that Kohli is not connecting here. The moment he bowls on the stumps, though, Kohli connects and it is a loft over mid-on for a boundary. Flummoxes Kohli does Jordan, who played for RCB last season, with a slow ball next. Single to onside off the last ball. India 16/0 in 2 overs (Kohli 10, Rahul 4).
4.33pm: Already good pace from Mills, who hits 90mph and 89 with his first couple of balls. Kohli takes a couple of deliveries to get used to that pace and then sythes one through the offside, between point and cover for a boundary. Next ball is on the stumps, and Kohli flicks it to fine-leg for a single. Rahul finishes the over with a up and under over point for a boundary. High 140kms through the over for Mills. India 9/0 in 1 over. (Kohli 5, Rahul 4).
4.30pm: First ball is short of a good length, Kohli defends to the offside.
4.28pm: Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will open. The captain is out there with Rahul. Kohli will take strike to Tymal Mills.
4.27pm: The National Anthems are done and we are almost ready for play.
4.23pm: The players are walking onto the field. The anthems up soon.
4.21pm: By the way, there is a cracking match happening at the Australian Open between two Swiss greats. Watch Federer vs Wawrinka live.
4.18pm: With the pitch looking like a road, India will be targeting over 200 here. Much will depend on how it actually plays, though. With Kohli set to open, the captain will be able to gauge exactly what a par score is on this wicket.
4.05pm: The teams:
India: KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Parvez Rasool, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra.
England: Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills.
Kohli is slotted to open, no Rishabh Pant. Hopefully, he gets a chance at some point in this series.
4pm: England win the toss and they will bowl first.
Eoin Morgan: We put in a lot of work and to get a reward at the end of the ODI series was good. Hopefully, we can produce a good performance tonight. With the possibility of dew later on, it is difficult to tell, but it looks like a good batting track. Bairstow, Ball, Dawson and Willey are the ones not playing. So Adil Rashid comes in.
Virat Kohli: When you groom youngsters it is important to have seniors as well. The wicket looks good and should remain a good batitng wicket, but would have bowled first because of the dew.
Kohli doesn't say if he will open. Parvez Rasool and Yuzvendra Chahal are the spinners playing.
3.58pm: Anil Kumble: Nice to have young and senior cricketers. Looking forward to KL Rahul performing and Rishabh Pant. He is one we are looking forward to doing really well in international cricket.
3.45pm: With 15 minutes to go for the toss, here is a reminder of the batting power that England possess.
3.30pm: An hour to go and how about getting on with some reading.
Here is the team news and lineups for the first T20 and if you want to know how to watch the match live, across the world, worry no more. All the details you need. Live match pictures for your perusal as well.
3.20pm: As we wait, how about reliving this moment. Kohli at his absolute, ridiculous best.
3pm: India vs England Part III begins today, on Republic Day, with the shortest format of the game taking centre-stage.
Kanpur is the place the two teams will slug it out in the first of the three-match T20 series, with a holiday crowd, no doubt, expecting plenty of entertainment considering all the fun carnage that was witnessed in the ODIs.
I am Deepak, and I will be taking you through the entire opening T20 match as it happens, with the live scores, updates and did-you-see-that, did-you-see-that stuff.
A very Happy Republic Day to everyone – and a happy Australia Day for the guys from Down Under – as India, a team filled with experienced players with a sprinkling of youngsters, look to assert their dominance on England early.
The T20 format, as we all know, is the most unpredictable, so it is anybody's guess really which team is going to come out on top. One thing that is fairly certain, though, is that we will get to see plenty of runs if the ODIs are anything to go by (there, I have jinxed it, we are now going to get a 130 game).
Virat Kohli continues his permanent run as captain and the big question with the captain is, if he will open the innings. As good as some of the batsmen are in the squad, I hope Kohli sticks at No.3, because that is where he belongs.
Give Rishabh Pant a go and let's see what he is made of. We all could use an explosive openers who gives the ball a tonk from ball one. Of course, now that it has been said, Pant will remain on the bench, KL Rahul will get out early and India will be three down for 20, with Kohli rescuing the team again.
Let's hope not, because India really could use a strong opening partnership for once.
England have no worries really in the batting department. It is the bowling that is the concern. If they get that right, they will be a pretty difficult team to stop.
All in all, this game is setup to be an engaging one, so sit back, relax and enjoy IBTimes India's coverage.
