India put on a good total on the board after being sent into bat first. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (98 off 106) and captain Virat Kohli (56 off 60) added 105 runs for the second wicket while KL Rahul (62* off 43) and Krunal Pandya (58* off 31) provided much-needed impetus in the end to help India finish with 317/5 on the board in 50 overs. Rahul and Krunal put together an unbeaten stand of 112 runs in the final 9.3 overs and that changed the momentum in favor of home team.
Among England bowlers, Ben Stokes bagged 3 wickets while Mark Wood picked up 2 wickets. With Eoin Morgan sitting out injured in the final 10 overs, Buttler was appointed as stand-in captain of the visiting side. His bowling choices lost England the match as both struggling Rahul and debutant Krunal scored massively in the death overs. Stokes who conceded just 34 runs from his 8 overs did not bowl his full quota of 10 overs but Buttler continued with Tom Curran and Adil Rashid in the death even though they were leaking runs.
During the chase, England openers Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy put up a solid stand adding 135 runs for the first wicket. But once Roy (46 off 35) departed, England did not stand a chance in this match! From 135/0, England collapsed to 176/5 giving India the upper hand at that stage. Sam Billings and Moeen Ali added 41 runs for the 6th wicket but they too fell in quick succession. England, eventually, were bowled out for 251 runs conceding India a 1-0 lead in the series.
Among Indian bowlers, debutant Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets. Shardul Thakur bagged 3 wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up 2 wickets. Krunal Pandya who scored an unbeaten half-century earlier bagged a wicket as well in this massive 66-run victory.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has been adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his 98 runs with the bat. One more victory in the series will give India the series while England need to win both the remaining games to win the series. The second ODI match of the series is scheduled to be played on Friday (Mar 26).
Brief Scores: India – 317/5 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan – 98, KL Rahul – 62, Ben Stokes – 3/34, Mark Wood – 2/75) defeated England – 251 all out in 42.1 overs (Jonny Bairstow – 94, Jason Roy – 46, Prasidh Krishna – 4/54, Shardul Thakur – 3/37) by a margin of 66 runs
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