Chasing India's 120, England achieve the target in 18.4 overs
Kevin Pietersen stars with 53 off 39 balls
Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli take a wicket each
Earlier, Suresh Raina top-scored with 39
Steven Finn claimed 3 wickets. Tim Bresnan and Ravi Bopara took 2 each
This is England's first win on the tour. They lost 5-0 in ODIs
Earlier, Steven Finn capped a personally outstanding tour with the superb figures of 3 for 22 in only his second Twenty20 international, as a chastised England team produced a spirited display in the field to limit India to an obtainable 120 for 9 in their one-off encounter at Kolkata. However, thanks inevitably to MS Dhoni, whose dismissal from the final ball of the innings was his first of the campaign, they scalped 25 runs from the final two overs to give themselves a fighting chance on a spin-friendly wicket.
In front of a raucous and expectant crowd, England began the match on a hiding to nothing, given how poorly they had fared in the one-day series. However, from the moment they claimed two wickets in the first eight deliveries of the match, they were the team dictating the pace of the innings. Suresh Raina, with 39 from 29 balls, was the most combative batsman on display, but Dhoni's 21 from 26 was the next highest score.
The star of England's performance was Finn. By trusting in the same virtues of line, length and pace that had earned him eight wickets in the ODIs, he claimed the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane with the fourth ball of the match, courtesy of an outstanding one-handed pluck in front of first slip from Craig Kieswetter, then later returned to remove two dangermen, Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, with consecutive deliveries.
He conceded three boundaries in his 24 deliveries, one to Virat Kohli when he overpitched in his first over, and two to Raina - a clean swipe for six, back down the ground, and a rare poor delivery on the pads when he returned to the attack to start the 12th over. The rest of the time, however, his rhythm and accuracy was unrelenting, and it was his key extraction of Raina, who cut loosely to backward point in Finn's third over that was the pivotal moment of the innings. One ball later, Jadeja chopped on for a golden duck, and at 74 for 6 with eight overs remaining, India's habitual acceleration was thwarted.
After electing to bat, skipper MS Dhoni's cameo at the end took India to a decent score of 120/9 against England on Saturday.
When it seemed India was going well, England took three quick wickets in the form of Tiwary, Raina and Jadeja.
The partnership between Raina and Tiwary was building on when Samit Patel broke the stand by removing Tiwary. Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja fell in quick succession to put India on a defensive mode.
After electing to bat, skipper MS Dhoni's cameo at the end took India to a decent score of 120/9 against England on Saturday.
When it seemed India was going well, England took three quick wickets in the form of Tiwary, Raina and Jadeja.
The partnership between Raina and Tiwary was building on when Samit Patel broke the stand by removing Tiwary. Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja fell in quick succession to put India on a defensive mode.
Before that, in-form Virat Kohli while trying to give impetus went for a big shot off Tim Bresnan and played straight into the hands of Alex Hales.
After electing to bat, India were put on backfoot by England as they dismissed the openers early and choked the hosts for runs.
Before that, in-form Virat Kohli while trying to give impetus went for a big shot off Tim Bresnan and played straight into the hands of Alex Hales.
After electing to bat, India were put on backfoot by England as they dismissed the openers early and choked the hosts for runs.
First to fall was Ajinkya Rahane when he edged one to the wicketkeeper, who dived to his right to take a brilliant catch. Robin Uthappa got a chance to open for India but failed to impress.
