Kuldeep finished with the bowling figures of 5/24 in his 4 overs.
Amidst plenty of excitement, Team India started their England tour with a T20I match at the Old Trafford, Manchester on Tuesday (July 3).
India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field first. England got off to a flier with Jason Roy and Jos Buttler adding 50 runs in just 5 overs. Umesh Yadav drew the first blood for India by removing Roy for 30.
Alex Hales then joined Buttler at the crease with the latter carrying on his good run of form to notch up his seventh T20I fifty. Just when England were looking to take the game away from India, left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav dented the hosts by claiming four wickets in quick succession.
Kuldeep got rid of Hales, Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root within the span of 13 deliveries. He claimed the prize scalp of Buttler to complete his maiden five-wicket haul in T20I cricket. Kuldeep finished with the bowling figures of 5/24 in his 4 overs. It was the joint second best bowling performance by an Indian in a T20I game after Yuzvendra Chahal’s 6/25 against England in 2017.
Apart from Kuldeep, Umesh Yadav picked up a couple of wickets while Hardik Pandya chipped in with a scalp. Despite Buttler’s (69 off 46 balls) brilliance with the bat, England managed to aggregate 159/8 in their 20 overs.
Twitterati were in awe to see the dominant bowling performance of Kuldeep that changed the match on its head. Here are some of the top tweets after the first innings:
Kuldeep Yadav is causing absolutely chaos ....... The Indians are a little bit better than the Aussies ....... #ENGvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 3, 2018
Amazing spell by @imkuldeep18 England failing to read Kuldeep’s wrist position. #ENGvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2018
Congratulations @imkuldeep18 great control .. so good to see you doing well.. 5 for 24 ???????????????? #IndvEng
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 3, 2018
@imkuldeep18 bamboozles Eng w/deceit & crafty effort..picks up five fr..all via good length bowling..& no charity!! Eng continue to fumble against Class wrist spin..nice to watch n T20 controlled confidence cn be rewarded..!!
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) July 3, 2018
Kuldeep Yadav is a proof that cricket needs quality spinners. They can turn not just the ball, the game as well #ENGvIND
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) July 3, 2018
Root ko uproot karte hue Kuldeep #ENGvIND
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) July 3, 2018
I guess this is because a bowling machine can’t quite simulate Kuldeep Yadav’s deliveries. #EngvInd
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 3, 2018
KULDEEP. What a gun ???? #ENGvIND
— Ravi Bopara (@ravibopara) July 3, 2018
The magic of wrist spin again. Such fun watching young Kuldeep. He might just be bowling himself into the test team......
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 3, 2018
5-fer for Kuldeep Yadav. As I have said earlier, genuinely feel England will really struggle to pick him.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 3, 2018
After this performance, he will have a huge psychological impact and England will struggle even more against him. India have done brilliantly to restrict Eng to 159. #ENGvIND