India started the T20I series against England on a higher note at Eden Gardens by defeating the visitors with 7 wickets in the first game of the five-match series. Indian skipper chooses to ball first after the coin fell in favor of India. England’s innings started horrendously as they lost both of their openers in just 2.5 overs when the score was 17. Arshdeep again proved his prowess in bowling during powerplay overs as he struck twice in his successive overs to leave England crumbled in the early stages of the innings.
However, their English captain, Buttler took responsibility on his shoulders and tried to steady the ship with Harry Brook. Both batters formed 48 runs stand for the third wicket before Brook was removed by Varun Chakravarthy on the team score of 65. After Brook, England’s most destructive middle-order batter Livingstone was sent back to the pavilion on a duck by Chakravarthy just two balls later Brook’s dismissal. From there, England’s batting collapsed as none of the forthcoming batters managed to reach in two digits. When England’s score was 109, Butler was caught by Reddy on Chakravarthy’s delivery at deep midwicket. Butler was the lone warrior for England who scored 68 runs off the total of England’s 132.
Samson and Sharma gave India a thunderous start in the chase of 133 runs. Indian openers put together 41 runs in just 4 overs before Sanju Samson’s dismissal. Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav fell on the same score and India was looking in the mud. However, the young explosive Indian opener Abhishek Sharma took control of the game in his hands and single-handedly guided India towards a dominating seven-wicket win. Sharma was unstoppable on the last night as he scored 79 off 34 balls with 8 massive sixes. It took India just 12.5 overs to finish the game, Varun Chakravarthy was named player of the match despite Abhishek’s heroics with the bat. Arshdeep was also commendable in the last night’s game as he became the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is.
Match Scorecard: India vs England 1st T20I, Kolkata, 22 January 2025
England Batting
| Batting | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | |
| Phil Salt | c Samson b Arshdeep Singh | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Duckett | c Singh b Arshdeep Singh | 4 | 4 | 100 | 1 | 0 |
| Jos Buttler (c) | c Nitish Kumar Reddy b Varun | 68 | 44 | 154.54 | 8 | 2 |
| Harry Brook | b Varun | 17 | 14 | 121.42 | 2 | 1 |
| Liam Livingstone | b Varun | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Bethell | c Abhishek Sharma b Pandya | 7 | 14 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Overton | c Nitish Kumar Reddy b Patel | 2 | 4 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Gus Atkinson | st Samson b Patel | 2 | 13 | 15.38 | 0 | 0 |
| Jofra Archer | c Yadav b Pandya | 12 | 10 | 120 | 1 | 0 |
| Adil Rashid | not out | 8 | 11 | 72.72 | 1 | 0 |
| Mark Wood | run out (Samson) | 1 | 1 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras | (b 5, lb 1, w 5) | 11 | ||||
| Total | 20 Ov (RR: 6.60) | 132 |
India Bowling
| Bowling | Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | ECON |
| Arshdeep Singh | 4 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 4.25 |
| Hardik Pandya | 4 | 0 | 42 | 2 | 10.5 |
| Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 5.75 |
| Axar Patel | 4 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 5.5 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 4 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 5.5 |
India Batting
| Batting | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | |
| Sanju Samson | c Atkinson b Archer | 26 | 20 | 130 | 4 | 1 |
| Abhishek Sharma | c Brook b Rashid | 79 | 34 | 232.35 | 5 | 8 |
| Suryakumar Yadav (c) | c Salt b Archer | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tilak Varma | not out | 19 | 16 | 118.75 | 3 | 0 |
| Hardik Pandya | not out | 3 | 4 | 75 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras | (b 4, lb 1, w 1) | 6 | ||||
| Total | 12.5 Ov (RR: 10.36) | 133/3 |
England Bowling
| Bowling | Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | ECON |
| Jofra Archer | 4 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 5.25 |
| Gus Atkinson | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 19 |
| Mark Wood | 2.5 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 8.82 |
| Adil Rashid | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 13.5 |
| Jamie Overton | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Liam Livingstone | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Man of the Match: India vs England 1st T20I, Kolkata, 22 January 2025
Varun Chakravarthy was named the Player of the Match for his marvelous bowling effort that bent England on their knees. Varun finished the game with bowling figures of 3/23 to play a significant role in paving the success path for the Indian team in the first T20I at Eden Gardens.
| Player | Team | Score |
| Varun Chakravarthy | India | 3/23 |
Most Runs: India vs England 1st T20I, Kolkata, 22 January 2025
Abhishek Sharma was the highest run-getter in the Ind vs Eng 1st T20I, scoring 79 runs off 34 balls.
| Player | Team | Score |
| Abhishek Sharma | India | 79 (34) |
Most Wickets: India vs England 1st T20I, Kolkata, 22 January 2025
Varun Chakravarthy took the most wickets in Ind vs Eng 1st T20I. He produced 3 wickets in four overs by giving away only 23 runs.
| Player | Team | Bowling Figures |
| Varun Chakravarthy | India | 3/23 (4 overs) |
Most Sixes: India vs England 1st T20I, Kolkata, 22 January 2025
Abhishek Sharma hit the most sixes in Ind vs Eng 1st T20I with 8 sixes in 34 balls, taking 79 runs single-handedly.
| Player | Team | Sixes |
| Abhishek Sharma | India | 8 |
Playing XIs: India vs England 1st T20I, Kolkata, 22 January 2025
India Playing XI
Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy
England Playing XI
Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
