Jofra Archer urges caution despite England’s convincing T20 victory over India

England cruised to an eight-wicket victory over India in Ahmedabad, but the paceman reiterated it was only the first game of a long series

Jofra Archer urged England not to get ahead of themselves despite their convincing eight-wicket victory over India in the first T20 in Ahmedabad.

Eoin Morgan’s side started strongly, reducing their hosts to 22/3 inside the powerplay and maintained their pressure with the ball to limit India to just 124/7.

In reply, openers Jos Buttler and Jason Roy put on a 72-run first-wicket stand to consolidate the excellent work from the bowlers, reaching the 50-run mark inside six overs and hitting ten boundaries before they were both dismissed. Dawid Malan (24 runs of 20 deliveries) and Jonny Bairstow (26 from 17) saw England home with 27 balls to spare with Malan crunching the final ball for six.

However, Archer, who took 3-23 from his four overs, believes England shouldn’t underestimate Virat Kohli’s side.

"It’s just the first game of the series, there are still four games to go," he said. "[India] are number two in the world for a reason so I don’t think we can get ahead of ourselves as yet. [But] it was a good win [and] we’ll enjoy it."

^{Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan celebrate dismissing Hardik Pandya}

Despite Buttler and Roy’s boundary-fest, it was England’s bowlers who were the stars of the show. Morgan opted to open the bowling with Adil Rashid and it was a gamble which paid off. The Yorkshire spinner conceded just seven runs from his first two overs and crucially dismissed Kohli for a duck.

Archer and Mark Wood, meanwhile, took the powerplay wickets of KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan, respectively, and the opening six overs set the tone for a dominant performance with the ball.  

Commenting on England’s decision to bowl first, Archer said: "I was excited to bowl first because obviously [we got] dew here when trained the other night. It didn’t get that bad tonight but trying to get on top of the conditions usually gives you the advantage."

The 25-year old was modest about his own performance which saw him take home the man of the match award and nearly claim a hat-trick after dismissing Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur in the 16th over.

"If I get one [wicket] or three, the way I bowl doesn’t change," he said. "I think wickets just depend on how lucky you are at the time"

However, he was full of praise for his fellow bowlers and in particular, the decision to open with Rashid, continuing: "[You] love to see it when a plan comes off. Rashid is world class; he can bowl anywhere.

"It was good to see [Mark Wood] and to see the speed gun. [It was] really good to watch and really exciting to see what he can do in the rest of the series."

England’s powerplay bowling sets up routine eight-wicket victory: INDIA v ENGLAND TALKING POINTS

Archer also addressed the elbow injury which kept him out of two of England’s four Test matches, stressing that it was under control and emphasising his desire to be present at the business end of 2021.

"I came to them [England’s medical team] and said [my elbow] wasn’t not great. I didn’t have to say it twice, they automatically jumped on it and started making plans," he said. "Everyone’s on the same page.

"In the immediate [future] I’m going to get through this series and then I will do everything in my power to make sure I’m going to the World Cup and the Ashes."

Of the Indian players, only Shreyas Iyer, batting at number five, got the better of England’s bowlers. The 26-year old scored 67 runs from 48 deliveries – his third half-century in 25 T20 internationals – and had a clear game plan when he came in at 22/3.

"I knew Rishabh [Pant] was batting really well, he had one six and one four," he said. "My mindset was to get singles because that’s what we do at Delhi Capitals as well. He’s the dominator. That was my mindset. I would play ball by ball and take on the ball if a spinner comes on and I think it worked pretty well for me."

And despite India’s poor performance overall, he insisted they wouldn’t deviate from Kohli’s strategy to play free and expressive cricket.

"We will definitely not change," Iyer said. "The batting line up we have and the power down the line, we really don’t have to change anything. We have come up with a plan and we need to execute it because going into the World Cup we need to see to it that we have ticked all the boxes.

"This is a five-match [series] so it’s the perfect time to see what suits us. There’s a lot to learn from this game."

Our coverage of India vs England is brought to you in association with Dafabet India. For more on Dafabet and to place a bet, click here

Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on everything England - including leading coverage of England in India, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.