KL Rahul century and Kuldeep Yadav spin masterclass condemn England to first iT20 defeat against India
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England's summer trial by spin began in earnest as India's IPL kings dished out a hiding at an Old Trafford full of support.
And they didn't even need Virat Kohli to do the damage with the bat as KL Rahul grabbed 101 not out in the win by eight wickets with ten balls to spare – a hiding in T20 terms.
Worryingly it was spinner Kuldeep Yadav who started the rot with a sensational return of 5-24 from his four overs as England's phobia against spin reared its head yet again.
“They played well and it wasn't our day today,” said skipper Eoin Morgan.
“It was a game of fine margins and we need to be better.”
(Image: PA)
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
On a dry sun baked pitch that was taking turn, England's batsmen would have had a better chance of picking their noses with their gloves on than which way the ball was turning.
The left-arm wrist spinner left England's batsmen utterly clueless as he bamboozled them one by one, making two of the very best, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root look like novices.
They both faced one ball and they were both stumped by MS Dhoni's fast hands, even if Root could have got back.
“He's a very good bowler,” added Morgan. “And is going to be a very big threat for us in this series and we need to be better about the way we go about our business.
(Image: AFP)
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
“We'll assess how we play him and we need to play him better in the next game, but when the wicket is that good you need to take attacking options.”
If it wasn't for Jos Buttler and his purple patch of form that brought him 69 from 46 balls, this game would have been an even greater embarrassment for the home side, and it is fair to say that he likes his 'home' ground.
The Lancashire man rarely gets to play here for his county and hasn't done since the start of September last year, but in his two games here for England this summer he has made 179 runs and shown the rest of the top order how to bat.
Buttler's first scoring shot was a scoop over the keeper's head for four and he continued in that same swashbuckling style until he was out.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
He added 50 in double quick time with Jason Roy, but once their partnership was broken he was forced to watch from the other end as his teammates spectacularly failed to deal with India's spin threat.
And to think that Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will not get to flex their spinning fingers until the Test series.
Where England's batsmen spluttered, the Indians purred as they took Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali apart as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do.