Skipper Eoin Morgan Thursday hailed England's "outstanding" bowling performance after Moeen Ali's superb spell set up a comprehensive seven-wicket win over India in the first Twenty20 international in Kanpur.
Chasing a modest 148 for victory, England rode on the third-wicket 83-run stand between Morgan (51) and Joe Root (46 not out) to romp home with 11 balls to spare.
But it was off-spinner Ali's career best 2-21 that helped England take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium.
Ali justified his captain's decision of bowling first as he struck on his opening ball to send back opposition skipper Virat Kohli for 29.
The wily spinner not only got another wicket in Manish Pandey but also dried up the flow of runs to put pressure on an Indian batting line-up that suffered from lack of partnerships.
"I thought our bowlers were outstanding tonight. Everybody within the unit produced exactly what we talked, we executed our plans," Morgan said on Thursday.
"Moeen Ali in particular I think showed great resolve on a wicket that didn't really turn a great deal."
In reply, Billings, who hit a 10-ball 22, came out all guns blazing as he smashed paceman Jasprit Bumrah for 3 fours and a six to set the pace.
"Whenever you are chasing a low total, getting off to a flier is always a huge positive. It releases any pressure on guys coming in. Sam Billings and Jason Roy did outstandingly well," said Morgan.
Billings shared a 42-run opening stand with Jason Roy (19) before leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal removed the openers in the space of four deliveries to leave England at 43 for two.
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Scoreboard
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India
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V. Kohli c Morgan b Ali 29
L. Rahul c Rashid b Jordan 8
S. Raina b Stokes 34
Y. Singh c Rashid b Plunkett 12
M.S. Dhoni not out 36
M. Pandey lbw b Ali 3
H. Pandya c Billings b Mills 9
P. Rasool run out (Morgan) 5
J. Bumrah not out 0
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Extras: (lb3, w7, nb1) 11
Total: (7 wkts; 20 overs) 147
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Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Rahul), 2-55 (Kohli), 3-75 (Yuvraj), 4-95 (Raina), 5-98 (Pandey), 6-118 (Pandya), 7-145 (Rasool)
Bowling: Mills 4-0-27-1 (1w), Jordan 4-0-27-1 (1nb, 1w), Plunkett 4-0-32-1, Stokes 4-0-37-1 (5w), Ali 4-0-21-2
Did not bat: A. Nehra, Y. Chahal.
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England
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J. Roy b Chahal 19
S. Billings b Chahal 22
J. Root not out 46
E. Morgan c Raina b Rasool 51
B. Stokes not out 2
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Estras: (b1, lb2, w4, nb1) 8
Total: (3 wkts: 18.1 overs) 148
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Fall of wickets: 1-42 (Roy), 2-43 (Billings), 3-126 (Morgan)
Bowling: Nehra 3-0-31-0 (2w), Bumrah 3.1-0-26-0 (1nb), Chahal 4-0-27-2, Rasool 4-0-32-1, Raina 2-0-17-0, Pandya 2-0-12-0 (1w)
Did not bat: J. Buttler, M. Ali, L. Plunkett, A. Rashid, C. Jordan, T. Mills
Toss: England
Result: England won by 7 wickets
Series: England lead the three-match series 1-0
Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (IND) and Nitin Menon (IND)
TV umpire: C.K. Nandan (SRI)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).
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