Eoin Morgan's 50 guides England home in first T20 against India but it is the bowlers who should take the plaudits

The shorter the format, the better England do in India. After a chastening Test series, and a respectable showing in the ODIs, England sauntered to victory at Pune in the first Twenty20 of the series. England bowled admirably, especially Moeen Ali, and then showed off their batting power and enlightened approach: they hit seven sixes while India, playing T20 cricket that was rigid and inhibited in comparison, cleared the ropes a solitary occasion, and very much seemed a team containing three players over 35. In a series played against the backdrop of the looming Indian Premier League, here there was nothing to endorse the benefits of the IPL on the Indian T20I side.

For this avidly new-age England limited overs side, a target of 148 amounted to a gentle Sunday afternoon stroll. As their victory, ultimately sealed with 11 balls to spate, became a formality, their run chase was played out in an atmosphere marked by a chronic lack of intensity; indeed, the spectators seemed completely oblivious when Joe Root hit the winning runs. After a cumbersome start, Eoin Morgan swatted four clean sixes over the legside to underpin England’s chase with 51, continuing his outstanding form in India.

Yet in many ways the decisive moment in England’s innings came before Root and Morgan arrived at the crease. Jason Roy and Sam Billings added 42 in the opening 3.2 overs; Billings alone plundered 20 from the second over of the innings, by Jasprit Bumrah, including an audacious scoop over fine leg for six and a thundering pull. So even though both were dismissed within four balls attacking Yuzvendra Chahal’s legspin, England could cruise to their target, and Root completely eschewed risk in his run-a-ball 46.

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But this was a game won by England’s performance with the ball. There were no glimpse of Tymal Mills decimating India’s stumps, but no matter. Here were four overs that showcased his worth as a gallivanting T20 specialist and the range of his skills. His opening spell were marked by his pace and bouncer; his final two overs, at the death, were subtler but even better. Mills took 1-12 in his last two overs and flummoxed India’s batsmen - including MS Dhoni - with four consecutive slower balls, each subtly different to the last. For all the promise of toe-crushing yorkers, Mills’ first international wicket - Hardik Pandya caught at backward point mistiming a pull - was more in line with a dour English military medium bowler.

Chris Jordan was almost as impressive in returning identical figures to Mills: 1-27 off four overs. After a nervy start - his first three balls included a no-ball and wide - Jordan showed why he was a crucial part of England’s run to the World Twenty20 final, producing a series of well-directed yorkers an inch or two shy of being called a wide.

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Even before Mills and Jordan combined to restrict India to just 30 off the final four overs, India had already squandered a promising start. At 55-1 off seven overs, India had a platform of promise, but Moeen produced a spell of exemplary control, claiming Virat Kohli first ball, neatly caught by Morgan at midwicket, and recording his best T20I figures. Though Ben Stokes, ushered away from the role of death bowler by the emergence of Mills, was expensive, Morgan had no need to diverge from five bowlers. That meant that Adil Rashid, who has endured a grim tour, was confined to a couple of misfields and a sharp catch.

For all India’s attempted heaving, theirs was a jittery, disjointed innings. Even Kohli’s strike rate was only 111.53: almost Trottian set against England’s pyrotechnics, and India scored just three boundaries from the 11th to 20th overs, an innings that never got out of third gear.

And so a day that had began with a real sense of occasion, the streets around Green Park Stadium heaving with vuvuzelas and Indian tricolours on Republic Day, and a crowd of 10-deep pressed against the Indian team coach as it advanced through cordoned off streets, meandered to a rather drab conclusion. England, though, will leave for Nagpur buoyant.