Nagpur, Feb 6 (IANS) Rookie Harshit Rana and experienced Ravindra Jadeja claimed three-fers each while Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel struck half-centuries as India came up with an all-round display to comprehensively outplay England in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) stadium here on Thursday.
Hammered for 26 runs in an over by Phil Salt, Rana showed great courage to come back strongly and claimed 3-53 in his debut match while Jadeja was exceptional in bagging 3-26 as India bundled out England for 248 despite fighting fifties by Jos Buttler (52) and Joseph Bethell (51).
Chasing 249 for victory without talismanic batter Virat Kohli, Gill struck a well-controlled 87 (14×4) while Iyer (59) and Patel (52) each struck the fifties as India reached 251/6 off 38.4 overs to win with 68 balls to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Gill shared a 94-run partnership for the third wicket with Iyer and a 108-run stand for the fourth with Patel as India survived some tough moments while batting.
India were off to a poor start as skipper Rohit Sharma (2) and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal were out with 19 runs on the board. Rohit stayed for seven balls as he spooned a catch to mid-off, mistiming an inswinger from Saqib Mahmood to Liam Livingstone. Jaiswal’s first ODI knock fetched 15 runs off 22 balls and included three fours before he edged behind and away-moving from Jofra Archer pitched on off-stump.
Gill and Iyer, who played a counter-punching knock, took India to safety and past the 100-run mark, sharing a vital partnership of 94 runs. The Mumbai batter, who raced to his fifty off 30 balls, struck a four off the third ball he faced from Mahmood and blasted back-to-back sixes off Archer in the seventh over, jumping back and hammering high over midwicket and following it up by ramping a short one outside off over third-man.
As he grew in confidence, Iyer played more beautiful shots, blasting three fours off Brydon Carse in one over and creaming two boundaries in three balls in the 14th over off Joseph Bethell.
Bethell had the last laugh as Iyer was eventually out for 59 off 36 balls (9×4, 2×6), trapped in front as he attempted a sweep and missed it completely. He reviewed it but could not overturn the decision as DRS showed three reds on ball-tracking.
Gill continued his vigil at the other end and completed his 14th ODI fifty off 60 balls, hitting seven fours. He struck Archer for two fours in one over and also had boundaries off Adil Rashid, Carse and Liam Livingstone as he played some elegant shots, using his wrists and timing well as he spent time at the wicket. He also got an ‘out’ decision on DRS as he had edged it into his pads off Livingstone. He blasted Archer for three more boundaries, two of them — a short-arm jab and a sweetly-timed slash past backward point being his best shots of the evening.
He found a willing partner in Patel, who was asked to bat higher in the order at No.5 to keep the left-right combination going, as they propelled India towards the 200-run mark, reaching the fifty off their partnership in 51 balls, Patel helped himself to a couple of fours off Carse and Gill struck the spinner to back-to-back boundaries in the 29th over as India raced towards the victory target.
Though the England spinners bowled well as the wicket was slightly sticky and turning a bit, Patel reached his third fifty and first in India off 46 balls, hitting six boundaries and one six. Gill continued to flourish as he marched into the 80s as the duo completed 100 of their fourth wicket partnership in 98 balls, keeping England at bay with some sensible batting interspersed by sweetly-timed shots. India lost three quick wickets including Gill but India managed to reach the target and took the lead in the series.
Earlier, after skipper Buttler elected to bat first, England made a superb start thanks to Phil Salt and Ben Duckett before they were pulled back in the middle overs.
Phil Salt (43, 26b, 5×4, 3×6) struck Rana, his teammate at KKR, for two fours in his first over and then hammered 26 runs in the next, blasting 6,4,6,4 in the first four balls and then another six off the final delivery of the over, top-edging, pulling and sweeping the debutant pacer with aplomb.
But a terrible mix-up with fellow opener Ben Duckett saw Salt getting run out while Shreyas Iyer ran back and made a sliding stop and then sent in a fine throw for K.L Rahul to do the needful.
Rana, showing great courage and sticking to bowling hard lengths and varying pace, sent down a double-wicket maiden to reduce England to 77/3, sending back Ben Duckett (32) and Harry Brook (0) for his first two ODI wickets.
Senior batter Joe Root, on his return to ODI cricket, added 34 runs for the fourth wicket with skipper Buttler before Jadeja trapped him in front with a skidder that beat the bat for pace and got — England failing to overturn it on DRS review.
Buttler continued to prosper as he reached his half-century off 58 balls, raising fifty runs for the fifth wicket in partnership with Joseph Bethell as England reached 167/4 after the 32nd over. Patel got him to top-edge a ball that kept low and Buttler pulled it to Hardik Pandya at short fine-leg. England had half their side back for 170.
Rana claimed his third wicket by inducing Liam Livingstone (5) to edge behind a short one while Jadeja bagged the wickets of Adil Rashid (7) and Bethell for 51 off 64 balls, which included five boundaries and one six, bowling a tight line and controlling pace.
Though the two teams shared the honours in the first power-play with England reaching 77/3, the Indians gained the upper hand in the second, claiming four wickets for 129 runs.
England were down to 183/6 in the 36th over and they managed to reach 220 for 8 thanks to Bethell, who completed his half-century off 62 balls. Jofra Archer (21 not out) blasted Hardik Pandya for two fours and a six in the 44th over, pulling twice two short ones for four and 6 and then hammering him straight for another four.
The visitors were eventually all out for 248 in 47.4 overs, leaving India a chase of a small total.
Brief scores: England 248 all out in 47.4 overs (Jos Buttler 52, Phil Salt 43; Ben Duckett 32, Joseph Bethell 51; Ravindra Jadeja 3-26, Harshit Rana 3-53) lost to India 251/6 in 38.4 overs (Shubman Gill 87, Shreyas Iyer 59, Axar Patel 52; Saqib Mahmood 2-47, Adil Rashid 2-49) by four wickets.
–IANS
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