India delivered a comprehensive performance on Thursday, February 6, securing a decisive victory against England in the first One-Day International held in Nagpur. The team’s success was bolstered by half-centuries from Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and Axar Patel, complementing the strong contributions from the bowlers and fielders earlier in the match. India successfully chased down England’s total with 68 balls remaining and four wickets in hand.
While India excelled in all facets of the game, they significantly benefited from the playing conditions. The pitch, which exhibited variable bounce in the initial stages, became more conducive to batting as the match progressed. Consequently, England’s choice to bat first proved to be a disadvantage, although the spinners did manage to extract some assistance later in the innings.
Debutant Harshit Rana and Ravindra Jadeja both grab 3 wickets each
Earlier in the day, India awarded debut caps to Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harshit Rana, while Virat Kohli was sidelined from the match due to discomfort in his right knee. Rana’s performance was a mix of highs and lows; he began the match by conceding 11 runs in his first over but then bounced back to deliver a maiden over. However, in his third over, he faced a challenging situation as Phil Salt scored 26 runs off him, marking the highest runs conceded by a debut bowler, before he managed to take two wickets in a single over.
Before Rana could dismiss Ben Duckett and Harry Brook in the 10th over, thanks to some outstanding catches by Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, the momentum shifted due to a miscommunication between Salt and Duckett. Salt, attempting to complete a seemingly easy third run, was sent back by Duckett midway through, resulting in the abrupt end of a 75-run opening partnership during the first Powerplay.
Despite the loss of three wickets in just seven deliveries, Joe Root and Jos Buttler worked to stabilize the innings, ensuring that India could not capitalize further. Root, in particular, utilized his diverse range of shots effectively, disrupting the spinners’ lengths. However, his promising innings came to an end at 19 when Ravindra Jadeja successfully trapped him leg before wicket while he was on the back foot.
Jadeja presented a significant challenge on a surface with variable pace, consistently altering his speed and angles. He frequently targeted the stumps. Despite a decline in the scoring rate, Buttler and Jacob Bethell formed a crucial partnership of 59 runs, which was instrumental in England achieving a total of 248.
Buttler adapted effectively to the conditions, reaching his 27th ODI fifty. However, just as he seemed poised to accelerate the innings, he fell victim to a delivery from Axar that kept low, resulting in a top edge to square leg. This dismissal initiated a batting collapse. While Bethell continued to rotate the strike and approached his half-century, wickets continued to fall at the other end.
Jofra Archer struck some powerful shots, notably scoring 16 runs off Hardik Pandya in the 44th over. Nevertheless, this effort was insufficient, as England was ultimately dismissed with 14 balls remaining.
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer score fifties as India wins comfortably
The visitors commenced their innings with considerable vigor. Jaiswal, who exhibited an array of strokes including cuts, slashes, and drives for boundaries early in his innings, was dismissed while attempting a shot outside the off stump to a delivery from Archer that moved slightly away. Shortly thereafter, Rohit Sharma followed suit, continuing his disappointing form. The Indian captain, attempting to flick a delivery from Saqib Mahmood, mis-timed his shot and ended up toe-ending the ball to mid-on.
Despite these early setbacks, Shreyas played a pivotal role in preventing England from gaining the upper hand. He aggressively targeted the pace bowlers, hitting consecutive sixes off Archer’s short balls in the seventh over. The strategy of bowling short deliveries backfired early on, and when Brydon Carse tried to mix things up with three full-length deliveries, he was dispatched over the boundary on each occasion.
By the 14th over, Shreyas’s unrelenting assault on the pace attack had enabled Iyer to secure yet another half-century. Even as he maintained his aggressive approach against Bethell’s spin, it was ultimately the spinner who succeeded in dismissing him, trapping him leg before wicket.
Axar, elevated to the No. 5 batting position, made an immediate impact. He executed a slog sweep against Adil Rashid for a boundary and followed it up with a six off Bethell. Gill, having taken his time to acclimatize, displayed a more measured approach in his aggressive shots. While he was quick to capitalize on the bowlers’ length mistakes and locate gaps, he maintained a steadier pace throughout his innings. By this stage, the pitch had become more conducive to batting, providing little assistance to the bowlers in troubling the pair.
With an aggressive approach from both ends, Carse was dispatched for four boundaries by Gill and Axar, each struck to different areas of the field, propelling the team past the 200-run threshold in the 29th over. Axar, like three preceding batsmen, was dismissed shortly after reaching his half-century. Nevertheless, by that point, the outcome of the match appeared to be determined.
England posed a brief challenge. Following Rashid’s dismissal of Axar, Rahul offered a return catch to the spinner, and Gill’s short-arm jab was caught by the mid-on fielder, causing India to slip from 221 for 3 to 235 for 6 within a mere 17 deliveries. This disruption momentarily unsettled India’s previously smooth momentum; however, Hardik Pandya and Jadeja successfully guided the team to victory without any further complications.
SCORECARD: England 248 in 47.4 overs (Jos Buttler 52, Jacob 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; Saqib Mahmood 2-47, Adil Rashid 2-49) by 4 wickets
