England bowlers cashed in on questionable shot selection of the Indian batsmen to restrict the hosts to 147 for seven, before skipper Eoin Morgan led from front with a 51 off 38 balls to set up an emphatic win for his team.
"England played better cricket than us today, and they are deserving winners. Credit to their bowlers, they bowled good hard lengths with extra pace and bounce," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Defending the target, Yuzvendra Chahal (2/27) shone with the ball for India and Kohli was full of praise for the young leg-spinner.
"I have a lot of confidence in him (Chahal), he plays with me at RCB. He has wicket-taking ability as well. He is confident about his skills. A youngtsre showing cricketer, really a good sign," he said.
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England skipper Eoin Morgan also lauded his bowlers for th "outstanding" effort.
"Our bowlers were outstanding tonight, Moeen Ali in particular showed great resolve. We showed a lot of experience, and Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan put their hands up in very important roles," Morgan said.
Off-spinner Moeen Ali was adjudeged man-of-the-match for his impressive 4-0-21-2 spell and that too in the shortest format of the game.
"As a bowling unit we were fantastic. We are pleased to be 1-0 up with two big games to go. I took a bit of confidence from the ODIs, but just tried to bowl a length," Ali concluded.