Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expressed pride in the Man of the Match performance of Yuvraj Singh, after India secured a five-wicket triumph over England in Thursday's first Twenty20 International in Pune.

Yuvraj's part-time left-arm spin earned him career-best figures of three for 19, after which a middle-order cameo of 38 from just 21 deliveries, three handsome sixes included, resigned the opposition to a one-nil deficit in the two-match affair.

"Yuvraj was brilliant. He bowled really well and at the right pace. I felt each and every bowler, apart from Yuvraj, bowled at least one bad over in the game. But I'm overall very happy with the performance," said Dhoni, who deployed all of seven bowlers.

Dhoni appreciated the home attack's ability to fight back after a whirlwind half-century from opener Alex Hales had powered England to 89 for one after 10 overs. The second half of the innings, though, brought a swift turnaround from the Indians.

"The pressure was on the bowlers. The way Hales started, he went after the bowlers - that was the difficult part. We all know it's a bit easier to score against the new ball on the sub-continent, particularly in India," added the victorious skipper.

"It was important from the eighth over that we tried to bring the team back into the game. And the fielding, which I wanted the team to do well, I thought we did brilliantly."

The second and final T20I gets underway at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.