Richard Hobson
At Manchester, August 31 (day/night). England won by six wickets. Toss: India. Twenty20 international debuts: J. C. Buttler, A. D. Hales; R. Dravid, A. M. Rahane.
Samit Patel finished the game with three fours to complete England's second-highest winning run- chase in Twenty20, but India could blame their own self-destruction. At one point eyeing a total of at least 180, they lost nine for 61 as Dernbach collected format-best figures with his well-disguised changes of pace. Debutant Ajinkya Rahane had looked comfortable against anything short, while Dravid - playing in his own first (and probably last) Twenty20 international at the age of 38 - soon made up for lost time with three sixes in a row off Patel. As wickets began to fall, Raina bucked the trend to lift India to respectability on a sluggish pitch and, although Alex Hales fell to his second ball in international cricket, a typically wide-ranging innings by Morgan, who added 73 with Bopara, almost brought England's requirement down to a run a ball. The task became harder with only three from the 19th over, bowled by Munaf Patel, but Samit Patel steered successive boundaries to third man off Vinay Kumar before driving jubilantly through the off side.
Man of the Match: J. W. Dernbach. Attendance: 19,466.