Deepak Hooda's gigantic six vs ENG almost strikes former India coach Ravi Shastri; WATCH

India and England locked horns in the first T20I of their three-match series at The Ageas Bowl Stadium in Southampton on Thursday. India won the game courtesy of an impressive all-round performance by Hardik Pandya. The Gujarat-born cricketer smashed a fifty with the bat and also picked four wickets while bowling in the second innings. Thanks to his stunning show, Pandya was named the Player of the Match. 

Meanwhile, a hilarious incident took place in the first innings of the match when a gigantic six from Deepak Hooda almost hit the commentators sitting near the boundary line. The incident took place in the fifth over when Moeen Ali was bowling to Hooda. The Indian batter hit a massive six over the long-on area that landed near the commentary pod, where former India coach Ravi Shastri and ex-England cricketer Michael Atherton were sitting. It was a narrow escape for Shastri.

England vs India: 1st T20I

India dominated the game, winning by a huge margin of 50 runs. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first. India got off to a strong start thanks to Rohit's quickfire 24 off just 14 balls. Rohit was removed by Moeen Ali in the third over of the first innings. Ali also dismissed Ishan Kishan cheaply during the powerplay.

Deepak Hooda continued his strong play into the game, scoring 33 points in only 17 balls before being dismissed by Chris Jordan. Jordan also dismissed Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 39 runs off of 19 balls. Hardik Pandya scored an amazing half-century to put India in command. Pandya was dismissed by Reece Topley. Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel scored 17 and 11 runs, respectively. India posted 198 runs on the board at the end of their innings.

India then thrashed England out for just 148 runs. Pandya bowled superbly to take four wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each claimed two and one wickets, respectively. England's top scorer was Moeen Ali, who hit 36 runs off 20 balls. Dawid Malan scored 21 runs, and Harry Brook, making his debut, scored 28 runs off of 23 balls. Jordan also made a contribution, scoring an undefeated 26 runs, but was unable to carry England to victory.

Image: Twitter/@KuchNahiUkhada/PTI