Brilliant Kuldeep and superb Rahul give India winning start

India 163 for 2 (Rahul 101*, Rohit 32) beat England 159 for 8 (Buttler 69, Roy 30, Kuldeep 5-24, Umesh 2-21) by eight wickets

Manchester: Lokesh Rahul made a brilliant unbeaten 101 to lead India to a crushing eight-wicket victory over England in the first Twenty20 international at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Rahul plundered five sixes and 10 fours from 54 balls as India reached their target of 160 with 10 deliveries to spare.

India left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav took five wickets, including three in one over, as England struggled to a modest 159-8 from their 20 overs.

Jos Buttler continued his rich vein of form with 69 off 46 balls but the hosts faltered after a bright start and Yadav's inspired spell of 5-24 ripped out their middle-order.

After the early loss of Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul and Rohit Sharma shared a rapid second-wicket partnership of 123 and India were able to knock off the last few runs mainly in singles as they eased to a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

India captain Virat Kohli praised the contributions of his match-winners.

The second game is in Cardiff on Friday.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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