INDIA VS ENGLAND, 1ST ODI, NAGPUR :Shubman Gill and India’s Bowlers Dismantled England to take lead 1-0 in 1st ODI .
While vice-captain Shubman Gill created a being-neutered-arriving to India’s chase, debutant Harshit Rana was mesmerizing with his accuracy to help the hosts clinch their four-wicket victory ends of England in the series opener in Nagpur on Thursday. Gill (87), Shreyas Iyer (59) and Axar Patel (52) stepped up the plate and infact very easily took India over the line after Rana (3/53 in 7 overs) and the experienced left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3/26 in 9) snapped six wickets among them to shoot England down for a sub-par 248. Rana’s fourth over, which had the twin scalp of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook, snuffed the England innings, having put India in complete control as the visitors never did rebuild despite fifties from captain Jos Buttler (52) and Jack Bethell (51). Chasing a below 250 target, Gill shored up the innings and added crucial partnerships with Iyer and Axar which formed the crux of the chase. Shubman Gill and India’s Bowlers Dismantled England to take lead 1-0 in 1st ODI .
TOSS-
England won the toss and chose to bat.
TEAMS LINE UP-
India Squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami
England Squad:
Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood
ENGLAND-
Earlier in the day, India awarded two debut caps – one to Yashasvi Jaiswal and the other to Harshit Rana, as the great Virat Kohli missed out on the contest with a sore right knee. Rana was in for some entertainment early on in the contest; his four overs featured plenty of extremes of good and bad. In the first over he was taken for 11 but came back for a maiden. One over later he snapped two wickets, though in return to finish 3-12 in his first spell Phil Salt carted him around for 26 runs – the most a bowler has ever had conceded on debut.
But the momentum was halted when a miscommunication between Salt and Duckett saw Rana snatch up the pair in the 10th over with some fine catching by Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. Salt, who was trying to run a static third, was sent back by Duckett mid-way through the shot, snuffing out a 75-run stand for the first wicket within the first Powerplay.
The three departures in the span of seven deliveries didn’t have India force them onto the backfoot. Root put his diverse arsenal of strokes to particular use, unsettling the lengths of the spinners. However, his promising innings ended on 19 when he was trapped leg before on the backfoot by Ravindra Jadeja.
Especially impressive was Jadeja on a two-paced surface that only enabled him to be attacked at times with no fixed pattern which he could hit for further runs kept changing. It must be said, he did attack the stumps reasonably regularly. But even though the rate of scoring slowed, Buttler and Jacob Bethell contributed a vital partnership of 59 runs which was pivotal in England posting 248.
Buttler was well adjusted to the surface and completed his 27th ODI fifty. However, just when it seemed he was well set to step up the scoring, he was bogged down by Axar’s delivery that kept low and saw him top edge a sweep to square leg. His dismissal set off a collapse. As Bethell negotiated a way to rotate the strike and move to his half-century, wickets continued to fall from the other end.
INDIA-
The visitors then started their bowling attack strongly in response. Jaiswal, who was cutting, slashing and driving boundaries at will in the early part of the innings, Jones was snared fishing outside the offstump to a ball from Archer that shaped away only a shade. Rohit Sharma followed him in the next over, continuing his wretched run of form. The Indian captain tried to flick Saqib Mahmood, but went too early into the shot and the ball touched his toe end and went to mid on.
Despite the early blows, Shreyas denied England any further control in the contest. He counterattacked the pacers, hitting back-to-back sixes off Archer’s short balls in the seventh over. That old foible early on, bowling short deliveries was counter-productive, and as Brydon carse went for three full length deliveries in a row, he was smashed to the boundary line thrice in a row.
Iyer had, meanwhile, notched up yet another half-century with Gill , by the 14th over, going after the pacers alike. But with an aggressive method also against Bethell’s spin, hanging one well for lbw at 38 to be sent back.
Axar, who was sent up to No. 5, joined the act early. He slogged Adil Rashid for a boundary and then Bethell for a six. Gill, who had for some time taken his time to settle in, was more measured with his aggression in the shots. While he was quick to duly punish the mistakes in lengths, as well as hit the gaps, his pace was at a more comfortable rate. By then, the pitch had also flattened out enough for the bowlers not to trouble the duo.
As the runs flowed both ends, Carse was dismissed for four boundaries by Gill and Axar through four different areas of the floor, to convey the aspect to the 200-run mark within the 29th over. Like three batters before him, Axar fell soon after reaching his half-century. But by then, the contest was already in the bag.
England provided a minor fright. Following Rashid’s scrubbing of Axar, Rahul gifted his wicket to the spinner while Gill’s short-arm jab dropped to the waiting hands of the mid on fielder as India crumbled from 221 for 3 to 235 for 6 in the space of 17 deliveries. It had unnerved India’s unerring momentum up to that point, but Hardik Pandya and Jadeja ushered them across the line without another hitch.
Brief Scores:
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 .