England vs India: First T20 international abandoned after rain in Durham

01.07.2026, 22:52 skysports.com

England’s first T20 international against India was abandoned due to rain before the hosts’ had the chance to chase down 190 for victory in Durham.

Just two days after Ben Stokes' dramatic international retirement at Trent Bridge, Harry Brook - his potential replacement as Test skipper - was in charge of bringing some order to England's chaotic summer.

In the end, he was forced to settle on a soggy stalemate as rain fell continuously through the first innings, which saw India post a competitive 189-7, then worsened before the hosts had a chance to respond.

Stokes' absence leaves another vacancy for an all-rounder as well as a skipper in the Test side, with Sam Curran one of the possible options for the former.

Despite only recently returning to bowling, he gave a good account of his left-arm seamers, pinning the dangerous Abishek Sharma for 59 and would have dismissed Shivam Dube at the death had but Jos Buttler's glovework let him down in the drizzle.

India 189-7 after 20 overs (won toss): Shreyas Iyer (68 off 47 balls), Abhishek Sharma (59 off 24 balls), Shivam Dube (42 off 21 balls); Saqib Mahmood (3-33), Sam Curran (1-25), Adil Rashid (1-39)

England started with nine of the players who lost to the same opponents in the T20 World Cup semi-final in March, with the recalled Saqib Mahmood picking up 3-33 as he filled in for the rested Jofra Archer.

India overlooked 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again but his time could be coming, with Sanju Samson following two cheap dismissals against Ireland by cutting Mahmood's fourth ball to point with just one to his name.

Scorecard: England vs India, first T20I

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Two balls later, England struck again through sharp fielding as Brook caught Ishan Kishan napping after India's No 3 aborted a quick single.

Sharma then counterattacked, blasting a 20-ball fifty and four sixes before Curran dismissed him lbw with a clever leg-cutter.

India captain Iyer anchored the innings with a hard-earned 68, while Dube accelerated late, smashing an unbeaten 42 from 21 balls as the tourists added 44 runs from the final four overs.

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Adil Rashid and Mahmood chipped in with wickets at the death but rain ultimately curtailed proceedings, leaving four matches remaining, starting at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Watch India's white-ball tour of England, from July 1-19, live on Sky Sports. Not got Sky? Stream cricket and more with NOW.