It was both untidy and emphatic. India made light work of their 249 target, passing it with 68 deliveries to spare in Nagpur.
That they only won this first ODI by four wickets was down to an unnecessarily messy finish.
One that spoke more to their disorder at how simple this was than any rallying from England’s part.
It was a mix of old and new that combined to give those in light blue a 1-0 lead in this three-match series.
Ravindra Jadeja‘s 3-26 was supplemented by Harshit Rana‘s 3-53 on his maiden ODI appearance to roll England for 248 with 14 deliveries to spare.
Jos Buttler‘s 52 and Jacob Bethell‘s 51 were the only scores of note after Phil Salt‘s emphatic start of 43 from 26 had been wasted.
With Virat Kohli ruled out with a right knee injury sustained on Wednesday evening, Shubman Gill stepped up to ice the chase with 87, helped initially by Shreyas Iyer‘s 59 and Axar Patel‘s outstanding 52, in stands of 94 and 108, respectively.
The former came at a vital juncture, as Jofra Archer nicked off Yashasvi Jaiswal on ODI debut and Saqib Mahmood – in for the rested Mark Wood – had skipper Rohit Sharma caught at mid-on in the space of six deliveries. From 19 for 2, India did not look back.
Iyer’s fifty off 30 deliveries set an emphatic tone, dealing with anything and everything short, pulling and then ramping Archer for consecutive sixes at the end of the seventh over.
Four of his nine fours were carved off Brydon Carse, who opted for length deliveries more on the off side once it became apparent Iyer was relishing the chance to heave to leg.
Axar’s introduction up the order proved a masterstroke, the left-hander playing with the kind of freedom that allowed Gill to calmly go about his business.
Gill’s one alarm came when given out lbw on 38 to Liam Livingstone, but even that was corrected immediately as DRS showed a clear inside edge. The vice-captain’s 14th fifty was his first against England.
The pair combined expertly in the 29th over against Carse, taking 17 from it with two boundaries each – the best of them a ramp from Axar over the keeper.
It was then that this chase officially became a canter, with just 48 needed from the last 21 overs. Axar raised his bat for fifty for the first time on home soil, driving his 46th ball, from Carse, on the up and through the fielder at mid-off. (ESPNcricinfo)
