5 memorable India vs England T20I encounters

Brace Yourself for a long and a tough tour for the Indian Cricket Team, as the team will officially begin an almost 3-month long tour to England today.

While the all-important 5-match Test Series will commence in the month of August, it won't be an easy July for India as well as they have a near-impossible task of defeating England, arguably the best limited-overs side in the world right now, in T20I and ODI series in their own background.

With batting and bowling heavyweight on both the sides, the 3-match T20 series promises to be an exhibition of some of the best players in the world. Even in the past, India and England have faced each other in 11 T20I matches, some of which have produced fantastic games of cricket. How this series will pan out, we can only predict that. Till then, these are the 5 most memorable India vs England T20I encounters.

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#5 Group Stage, 2012 ICC T20 World Cup, Columbo

Harbhajan Singh bowled the best spell of his T20 career

This encounter was the third clash between the two teams in World Twenty20 and was the one that is counted as one of the biggest wins for the Indian team in the shortest format. Having defeated Afghanistan in their opening matches, India and England had already qualified for the next stage and this led to reduced excitement for this match. However, what transpired during those 3 hours turned this into one of the most memorable wins for India.

Put in to bat by the English team in Colombo, India piled up a stunning total of 180 in 20 overs for the loss of 4 wickets on the heels of a brilliant fifty by MS Dhoni and useful knocks by Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir. England got off to the worst possible start as Irfan Pathan took 2 wickets in his first two over.

The introduction of Harbhajan Singh in the 6th over triggered a collapse for England as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Thanks to a spell of 4/12 from the Turbanator, India bowled England out for 80, giving them a 90 run win.

#4 Third T20I, England Tour of India 2016-17, Bengaluru

Chahal destroyed the opposition batting line up.

This match was the final match of the 3 match series, and, with the series level at 1-1, the excitement for this match was at an all-time high. England, who had been in India for more than 3 months, were looking to end this tour on a high after losing both the Test and the ODI series. However, what transpired in Bengaluru ended their tour on the worst possible note.

After winning the toss, England chose to field and put India to bat at Chinnaswamy Stadium. Even though India lost their skipper Kohli just after 7 balls, fifties from Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni and vital knocks from KL Rahul and Yuvraj Singh propelled India to a mammoth total of 202/6 in 20 overs.

England had a similar start, as they lost Billings after 9 balls, but some fantastic vatting by Root, Roy and Morgan took them to 119/2 in 13 over. From there on, it was a free fall for them as they lost the next 8 wickets for just 8 runs, folding for just 127 runs. Yuzvendra Chahal was the weapon of destruction for England as he took 6 wickets in India's 75 run win and a 2-1 win in the series.

#3 Second T20I, England Tour of India 2016-17, Nagpur

Bumrah bowled a phenomenal last over to level the series.

If you though that the 3rd T20I was memorable, the preceding match was an even more memorable affair. England had convincingly won the first match in Kanpur by 7 wickets and were willing to win the next match as well to bring their long tour to a happy end. While they did everything perfectly for 39 overs, it was the final over that decided the outcome of the match.

After losing the toss, again, India were put in to bat first at Nagpur, India got off to a nice start thanks to a fantastic 71 by KL Rahul and important contributions by Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey. However, a disappointing show from other batsmen resulted in India folding for a meager 144/8 in 20 overs.

The target of 145 was never a tough task, and the English team was going smoothly towards the target. Before the 20th over, India had England restricted to just 137/4, thanks to a 3-wicket haul by Ashish Nehra. However, England had no answer to Bumrah's impeccable bowling in the last over as they could only manage 2 runs and lost 2 wickets to hand a 5 run win to the Indian team.

#2 Second T20I, England Tour of India 2012-13, Mumbai

Eoin Morgan was the hero of this win.

This match was just a trailer of the player that Eoin Morgan has developed into right now. Unarguably the closest and most intense T20I match between these two mighty teams, this match was the second and final encounter of the 2-match T20I series, and if the result was any way of measuring the success of the series, then it surely was one blockbuster series.

India had already won the first match, and were entering into this contest with a lot of momentum by their side. Batting first on a cool night in Mumbai, India, on the heels of pivotal knocks by Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, posted a respectable and defendable total of 177/8 in 20 overs.

England had the perfect start, as Michael Lumb(50 runs) and Alex Hales(42 runs) took their team to 80 in just 8 over. After England lost their second wicket at 94, Eoin Morgan came to the middle of the crease to join Alex Hales. Batting at his best, he took the team to 169/4 in 19 overs. With 3 runs to win at the last ball, Morgan smashed Ashok Dinda for a majestic straight six to seal the match for England and level the series 1-1 for England.

#1 Super 8, 2007 ICC T20 World Cup, Durban

A Historic Moment in Cricket.

Come on! Now please don't say that you were expecting any other contest to be on #1 on this list. This match was the first ever T20I encounter between the two teams, and it still stands as the best. This is a match that is in the all-time favorite list of every Indian cricket fan. This is the match that is only associated with one man, and one man only - Yuvraj Singh.

Batting first in Durban in this Super 8 match, India got the best possible start when both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir scored fifties to give India a 136 run opening stand. After the loss of 3rd wicket in the 17th over, Yuvraj Singh came to the middle but was sledged by Andrew Flintoff, who tried to get into his mind. However, it was Stuart Broad, and the rest of the English team, who ended up paying the price for his cockiness.

With Broad bowling the 19th over, Yuvraj Singh smashed him for a six on all the deliveries of the over, becoming the first person to achieve this feat in T20I. In addition to that, he also scored the fastest T20 fifty in the history of cricket and took India to a mammoth total of 218/4. England fought very hard, thanks to essential knocks by Vikram Solanki and Kevin Pietersen, but could only manage 200/6, giving India a win by 18 runs.