First T20, Chester-le-Street - India win toss and bat
Varma caught by Dawson off Mahmood; India captain Shreyas brings up 50 off 38 balls
Abhishek brings up 50 off 20 balls before falling lbw on review to Curran
Mahmood removes Samson after fine catch by Banton;Kishan run out after mix-up in same over
Tourists again do no select 15-year-old Sooryavanshi for debut
Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live Sport commentary at top of page
Jem Green
CricViz data analyst
Sam Curran has reined in the use of his slower deliveries in T20 cricket this year. Back in 2024 it was almost his stock delivery with 42% of all balls he bowled in the short format being off-pace. In 2025 this dropped to 38%, and so far in 2026 less than a third (32%) of his deliveries have been slowies.
Lovely stuff. Shreyas Iyer latches to some width from Liam Dawson to cut through point for four.
A wide delivery from Dawson gifts a reaching Shivam Dube two more.
Ind 127-4
Shreyas Iyer drives off the back foot to reach his 50. A somewhat muted celebration. He knows the work is far from done.
Deep Dasgupta
Former India wicketkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Shreyas Iyer needed this knock.
Coming back into the T20I side and that too as captain. There was pressure on him after the Ireland series.
Shivam Dube is the new batter in and is off the mark with a single.
Top stuff from Saqib Mahmood. Just four from the over and the wicket.
India skipper Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, is on 49 from 37 deliveries.
Deep Dasgupta
Former India wicketkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
It's a good yorker from Mahmood. The shot was on, but he didn't get under it.
Varma c Dawson b Mahmood 13
A full delivery from Saqib Mahmood and Tilak Varma makes a bit of a meal of it. He scoops it to short fine leg.
A second wicket from Mahmood as Varma's innings of 13 from as many balls comes to an end.
Jem Green
CricViz data analyst
Dawson and Rashid complement each other very well as a spin pair. Aside from the obvious; that they bowl a different discipline of spin bowling, and also with an opposite dexterity, the contrast between the two doesn’t end there.
Slow left-armer Dawson generally bowls about 6mph quicker than Rashid, and looks to bowl into the pitch with an average length nearly half of a metre shorter than the leg-spinner.
Sam Curran's line is a bit all over the place but he gets away with it, until Shreyas Iyer flicks a leg-side delivery down to the fine-leg boundary.
Iyer is on 47 off 32 and Tilak Varma has 12 off 11.
Sir Alastair Cook
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special
It looked pretty plumb apart from that flick of the gloves.
Ind 111-3
Whether it was going to hit the stumps or not is relevant. The ball flicked Tilak Varma's gloves first.
Ind 111-3
A reverse sweep from Tilak Varma misses out on a reverse sweep and is struck on the pads. Jacks is very animated in his appeal. Harry Brooks is less convinced but sends it upstairs.
Ind 108-3
As expected, he's well in. As you were.
Ind 108-3
India go for two. There's a direct hit and a half-hearted umpire review here as Tilak Varma dives in.
Deep Dasgupta
Former India wicketkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
One of these two has to bat deep.
A loopy delivery from Adil Rashid is sent to the deep mid-wicket boundary. It splits the fielders, despite a great effort from Tom Banton.
He dives to his left to partially stop the ball. It trickles back towards him and Banton's body is touching the boundary foam as he flicks it back.
Great effort, though.
Adil Rashid fields well off his bowling, diving down to his left. After two dot balls, a single down the ground brings up the India 100.
It started off well for England with this fine catch from Tom Banton. But India came roaring back.
'What a catch!' - Samson out at the hands of Banton
Shreyas Iyer runs two and Tilak Varma breaks his bat coming back for the second. After a short break in play and a change of bat, India work it through the gaps for five singles.
Time for drinks.
Daniel Norcross
Test Match Special commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
I've touted Sam Curran as a potential Test captain. He's been overlooked by this management, but who knows how long this management will be around.
I cannot think of a seam-bowling all-rounder other than Curran and I think England need one to balance their [Test] side.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Dots | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Samson,caught Banton, bowled Mahmood Samson, caught Banton, bowled Mahmood | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 14.29 |
Sharma,leg before wicket, bowled S Curran Sharma, leg before wicket, bowled S Curran | 59 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 37 | 245.83 |
Kishan,run out Brook Kishan, run out Brook | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
batting,Iyer,not out batting, Iyer, not out | 56 | 41 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 63 | 136.59 |
Tilak,caught Dawson, bowled Mahmood Tilak, caught Dawson, bowled Mahmood | 13 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 100.00 |
batting,Dube,not out batting, Dube, not out | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 125.00 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 2, byes 0, leg byes 0, total 2 Extras, no balls 0, wides 2, byes 0, leg byes 0, total 2 | |||||||
Total,136 for 4 15.1 overs Total,136 for 4 15.1 overs |
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Dots | No balls | Wides | 4s | 6s | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wood, bowling | 2.1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10.15 |
Mahmood | 3.0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8.66 |
Dawson | 3.0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.66 |
Jacks | 3.0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10.00 |
Rashid | 2.0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.50 |
S Curran | 2.0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7.50 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
6 for 1(1.4 overs) | Samson |
6 for 2(1.6 overs) | Kishan |
88 for 3(8.2 overs) | Sharma |
124 for 4(13.4 overs) | Tilak |
