PUNE (India), Dec 20: England were unable to replicate their Test form in the opening Twenty20 international as they lost to India by five wickets here on Thursday.

Yuvraj Singh did the damage with both ball and bat, with the left-armer taking three England wickets before top-scoring for the hosts with 38 from 21 balls.

Alex Hales hit a half-century for England, but their total of 157 for six proved insufficient as India's batsmen capitalised on a good start to reach their target with ease, with 13 balls and five wickets to spare.

Yuvraj and Virat Kohli (21) provided a vital mid-innings partnership after India had lost their opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane at the score of 44 before Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni guided India into a comfortable position.

A brilliant piece of fielding by Eoin Morgan sent Raina on his way in the penultimate over, but it proved to be of little consequence, as skipper Dhoni knocked off the winning runs.

Earlier, Yuvraj’s brilliant spell in the middle overs helped India contain a rampaging England, who had scored 89 from the first 10 overs, to keep them down to just 68 from the final ten.—Agencies