Jos Buttler's first game in charge of England's limited-overs side has ended in a disappointing 50-run defeat to an inspired India side on Thursday night.
Buttler, who has recently replaced long-serving skipper Eoin Morgan, had been expected to guide England to victory against a weakened Indian outfit.
However, after winning the toss, the tourists dominated for large parts in Southampton, even with wickets falling at regular intervals as they made 198-8 from their 20 overs.
Six of India's top seven scored at a strike-rate of in excess of 140, Hardik Pandya the pick of the side with 51 runs coming from 33 deliveries.
Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav had key parts to play before Pandya's innings, contributing 33 from 17 and 39 from 19 respectively.
Chris Jordan and Moeen Ali were the pick of the England bowlers, taking two wickets apiece, and England would have felt in the game with the required run-rate being fewer than 10 runs per over.
England's optimism soon disappeared with Buttler departing for a first-ball duck in the opening over, that dismissal setting the tone for the remainder of the innings.
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Although Dawid Malan launched a counter-attack with 21 coming from 14 deliveries, he received little to no assistance from Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone.
The latter went for a third-ball duck and Roy managed just four from 16 balls, leaving England on the brink of defeat as early as the seventh over.
Harry Brook and Mooen kept England going through the middle overs, the pair scoring 28 and 36 runs respectively to get England to three figures with 43 balls left.
Even if England were out of the game in the closing overs, Jordan ensured that the crowd were entertained with a knock of 26 from 17 deliveries.
Nevertheless, England were ultimately bowled out for 148 with three balls remaining, capping a below-par performance on the back of the highs of the Test success earlier this week.
Following on from his fifty earlier in the night, Pandya posted figures of 4-33, deservedly earning himself the Man Of The Match award.
Darren Plant
