Kuldeep's fifer restricts England at 159/8

Kuldeep Yadav's brilliant bowling effort (5/24) restricted England at 159/8 in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Old Trafford cricket ground here on Tuesday.

With the hosts going at a decent pace, it was Kuldeep's massacre which broke the English batting line-up and the spinner was well supported by pacer Umesh Yadav (2/20).

Put into bat, England were off to a good start as openers Jason Roy (30) and Jos Buttler (69) forged a 50-run partnership for the first wicket in 4.5 overs before Umesh drew the first blood to send back Roy.

Buttler was then joined by Alex Hales (8) and the duo partnered for a 45-run stand.

Kuldeep sent back Hales in the 12th over and went on to destruct the opponents as he dismissed Eoin Morgan (7), Jonny Bairstow (0) and Joe Root (0), which left England reeling at 107/5 in 13.4 overs.

Buttler got some support from unbeaten David Willey, who chipped in with 29 runs down the order, to help England reach a moderate total.

Kuldeep, however, was in no mood to give any respite to the hosts as he once again scalped a wicket in his final over to send back Buttler, the lone English batsman to show some resistance.

Brief Scores: England 159/8 (Jos Buttler 69, Jason Roy 30; Kuldeep Yadav 5/24) vs India.

--IANS

kk/nir