IND vs ENG Live Score, 1st T20I: Sanju Samson-Abhishek Sharma begin for India

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma begin for India. Sanju is under pressure after two low scores in Ireland. Today, he needs runs. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is warming the bench and is itching for a chance. If Sanju continues to falter, it won't be long before Sooryavanshi replaces him. Abhishek Sharma scored a fifty in the 1st T20I against Ireland, before falling for a golden duck in the 2nd T20I. He would be aiming to avoid a repeat of that. 

The England vs India 1st T20I is live in India on Sony Sports Network, with streaming available on SonyLIV and JioHotstar. 

England announced their Playing XI yesterday, resting Jofra Archer due to the short turnaround after the ENG vs NZ 3rd Test.

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Saqib Mahmood

Despite the overcast conditions and extra bounce on offer in Durham, India have opted to go with three spinners. Varun Chakaravarthy returned to the Playing XI, with Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel the other two spinners. Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh are the two seamers, along with Shivam Dube as a third seamer option. But there is no place for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy

India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer and England captain Harry Brook, who has recently succeeded Ben Stokes as the Test captain as well, are in the middle for the toss. And Iyer calls it correctly after Brook flips the coin. India opt to bat first despite the overcast conditions.

India's problems run deeper. The batting order that struggled so badly in Belfast, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Iyer himself, has to find answers on a different continent against a sharper bowling attack. Varun Chakravarthy is back and gives the bowling more control, but that means someone from Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana or Prince Yadav sits out, and none of those is an easy call. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi remains uncapped. He was left out through both games in Ireland, and early signs suggest England may not be the venue where that changes either.

The Riverside pitch has been unpredictable through this year's Blast, defending modest totals in some games and getting overrun in others. Whichever side reads those conditions better in the first hour probably wins this.

England go into this series looking like the more settled unit, which is an odd thing to say about a team facing the world champions. Phil Salt and Jos Buttler open, Harry Brook bats at three, and the middle order runs through Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton and Will Jacks, all arriving fresh off strong domestic and franchise form. Adil Rashid needs three wickets to move into second on the all-time T20I wicket-takers list. Jofra Archer is in the squad but unlikely to play, two days removed from a Test match, which opens the door for Sonny Baker or Luke Wood in the pace attack.

Chester-le-Street has light drizzle through the day, and the rain probability for the evening sits at 35 per cent. Temperatures should reach around 21 degrees Celsius at their peak, cooling off as the evening session under lights gets underway.

If the drizzle clears in time for the toss, conditions should still favour the bowlers early, given the dampness already in the outfield and surface. If it is not clear, a rain delay or a reduced-overs match is a real possibility, and D/L calculations could end up deciding this one.

Weather summary: Overcast with drizzle likely | High: ~21°C | Rain chance: 35% | Reduced-overs match possible

Durham's surface this season has been genuinely hard to read. The T20 Blast games played here have gone in almost every direction: two modest totals successfully defended, one comfortably chased down, and the most recent match at the ground finished 128 against 130 in a rain-reduced game. There is no obvious pattern to lean on.

One thing does hold up regardless of the season, though: the new ball still matters most here. Cooler evening temperatures and grass cover help swing bowlers through the first six overs, and batters who get through that period usually find scoring opens up considerably. Spin plays a supporting role in the middle overs, relying more on change of pace than sharp turn.

A first innings total in the 165 to 180 range is generally considered competitive here, though this year's small sample has been erratic enough that either side batting first could end up well outside that range. Chasing has had a slight recent edge in white-ball cricket at this venue, partly because dew tends to arrive later in the evening under lights.

Toss verdict: No strong lean either way this year, but recent results point toward fielding first and using the moisture with the new ball if the skies stay overcast.

India lead the overall T20I record against England, 18 wins from 30 completed meetings. That gap looks wide on paper, but it flattens out considerably on English soil, where home advantage tends to matter more.

The two most recent encounters cut in opposite directions in one sense and the same direction in another. India beat England in this year's T20 World Cup semi-final, ending England's title defence on the way to their own trophy. Before that, India won a bilateral series in India 4-1, a scoreline that made the margin look wider than the cricket in a couple of those games actually was.

England have generally been a tougher opponent at home than the head-to-head suggests. Conditions here reward the kind of new-ball swing bowling their attack is built around, and India's top order has run into trouble with exactly that on past tours.