Pandya stars as India beat England in T20 opener

Hardik Pandya blasted his maiden Twenty20 international half-century and took four wickets as India beat England by 50 runs in Southampton on Thursday.

In the opening game of the three-match series, Pandya powered to his 50 off 30 balls as India scored 198-8.

The 28-year-old hit six fours and one towering six, off Matt Parkinson, before being dismissed for 51.

Pandya's fireworks came after Suryakumar Yadav (39) and Deepak Hooda (33) had set the tone with some flamboyant shots.

Pandya tormented England with the ball as well, taking 4-33 from his four overs as the hosts could only manage 148 in their limp run-chase.

India captain Rohit Sharma, back in the side after recovering from Covid-19, was rewarded for his decision to bat first as the tourists gained a small measure of revenge for their stunning Test loss to England earlier this week.

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England had routed India by seven wickets in the fifth Test as Ben Stokes' side authored the highest Test run chase in their history.

That victory was England's fourth in a row under Stokes and new red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, with their astonishingly successful start inspired by a daring commitment to aggressive strokeplay.

With the Test team on a well-earned break, Jos Buttler took charge of England for the first time since replacing Eoin Morgan as the country's limited overs skipper.

Insisting England would be "really aggressive and not afraid of failure", Buttler is following the template laid out by Stokes and McCullum as he prepares for the T20 World Cup in October.

But Buttler perished for a golden duck, just five balls into England's chase, when he was bowled by