Two bowlers on either end of the experience spectrum set up the game, and a pair of batters who are frequently lightning rods for criticism ensured that India cruised to a four-wicket victory, with 68 balls to spare, in the first ODI against England at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Set 249 to win after a spectacular batting collapse from England, India suffered only one big blot in the copybook with Rohit Sharma, the captain, failing yet again. Only a late clutch of wickets gave the scorecard an illusion of closeness.
For all the focus being on Virat Kohli’s absence with a sore knee, and two debutants, this was a match that turned beyond recognition with a run-out. At 73 for 1 after 8.4 overs, England were running away with the Powerplay, and Phil Salt was in especially imperious touch. Having smashed 26 from an over bowled by Harshit Rana, debutant and his teammate at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, Salt had eased to 41 from 25 balls when he decided to take on Shreyas Iyer’s arm from deep backward point in pursuit of a third run. Ben Duckett wanted none of it and Salt had to trudge back to the pavilion.
That wasn’t Shreyas’s only telling contribution. When he walked out to bat, India were in some strife at 19 for 2, with Rohit having lobbed the simplest of catches to Liam Livingstone at midwicket off Saqib Mahmood. He made just 2 from 7 balls, one more failure in a career trajectory that has fallen off the cliff since India’s home series against Bangladesh.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, the other India debutant, had fallen after a tentative 15, feathering an Archer delivery behind. The Barbados-born quick was breathing fire, while Brydon Carse had caught the eye in the T20I series. Shreyas, whose frailty against the short ball has often been overstated, pulled and upper-cut Archer for sixes, before creaming three peachy fours in a Carse over. India never looked back.
Shreyas’s form meant that Shubman Gill, at No. 3, had time to play himself in, and their partnership effectively settled the game. Everything Shreyas hit or cut seemed to come off the middle of the bat, and the pair added 94 in just 64 balls before Shreyas was trapped in front playing across the line against Jacob Bethell.
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By then, Gill was very much into his elegant stride. Axar Patel, promoted to No. 5, joined him and the lack of variety in England’s pound-the-deck attack was ruthlessly exposed by a partnership of 108 from just 107 deliveries. By the time Axar, after a sprightly 47-ball 52, was castled by a huge leg-break from Adil Rashid, India needed just 28 to win.
Gill, the subject of much criticism after a poor tour of Australia, once again highlighted his white-ball class with an effortless knock. Once he settled, he kept placing the ball into the gaps, often with such pristine timing that it sped to the rope. There were 14 such hits in his 96-ball 87 before an ugly hoick at Mahmood ballooned to mid-on.
India’s bowling story was all about the greenhorn Rana, the experienced and wily Jadeja and the returning Mohammed Shami. After getting a pasting in his first three overs, Rana came back to dismiss Duckett and Harry Brook in the space of four balls. From 77 for 3, England enjoyed a mini-revival before Jadeja found one of his staple deliveries that skids on at pace to catch Joe Root in front.
Jos Buttler and Bethell revived the innings with a 59-run stand, but their sedate rate of scoring forced Buttler to take a chance against Axar. The big heave off a rank long hop only went as far as short fine leg. Livingstone also fell victim to the pace and bounce that Rana managed to extract, and there was the welcome sight of Shami celebrating an ODI wicket after 15 months when Carse’s wild swing connected with air.
Bethell’s 64-ball 51 and Archer’s late 18-ball flourish for 21 took England to 248, but on a pitch with few demons, it was nowhere near enough.
Brief scores: India 251 for 6 (Gill 87, Shreyas 59, Mahmood 2-47, Rashid 2-49) beat England 248 (Buttler 52, Bethell 51, Jadeja 3-26, Rana 3-53) by 4 wickets.
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