Pune : India won the first ODI against England by 66 runs at Pune. A victory that the captain termed as “one of our sweetest in the recent past.” The reason being the two departments of the game were taken care of and there were hardly any slip-ups by the Indians in the field.

England had won the toss and decided to field first with a team that gave an opportunity to Billings and Moeen Ali. India handed the debut caps to Krunal Pandya and quick bowler Prasidh Krishna.

As Jofra Archer was sent back after his elbow injury flared up, it was Sam Curran who partnered Mark Wood with the new ball. The duo did considerably well to keep Shikhar and Rohit in check which was backed up by some sharp fielding in the ring. Their ground fielding must have at least saved around 20 runs by the end of the innings. But, what was a noticeable feature in England’s power-play bowling was that Wood’s areas were around good length and ofcourse, at decent speed. Therefore, the batsmen were tentative to drive against Sam Curran from the other end as they were constantly playing deliveries on the back-foot versus Wood which forced them to play from inside the crease. In fact, Rohit also copped a blow on his elbow from a delivery bowled by Wood. The hosts then managed to score 39 runs for no loss at the end of the first 10 overs.

England got their first breakthrough from Stokes after 64 runs were scored for the opening stand as Rohit chased a wide delivery only to get a piece of the ball which went straight to the keeper. Virat came out to bat and seemed to be in good touch as he rotated strike and kept the scoreboard ticking.

But, the runs began to flow when the two spinners Ali and Rashid bowled in tandem. Dhawan reached his fifty in 68 balls from a slog sweep six off Rashid after which he scored at a quicker rate. The bowling was characterized by short and loose deliveries that were easily pulled away to the leg-side region. Rashid barely managed to complete his ten overs in the end but Moeen, who has hardly played on this tour was not given the ball after that spell. Along with the flow of runs, Virat reached his fifty and he looked all set for a big one.

As the partnership began to flourish, two wickets fell in quick succession as Virat and Iyer played false shots which went directly into the fielder’s hands. India were 187/3 at this point with a struggling Rahul coming out next. The runs dried up to an extent as Shikhar was into the nineties and did not recieve much of the strike since Rahul was taking the time and deliveries to shrug the bad form away. This led to Shikhar being dismissed for 98, missing out on a well-deserved 100.

Image courtesy : BCCI

Trivia : Shikhar Dhawan has now been dismissed five time in the nervous 90’s.

The next pair of Krunal Pandya and Rahul was the ultimate game-changer for the Indians as at one stage it never looked like a target of 300 could be achieved by them. But, the duo added 112 runs in just 9.3 overs which boosted the target to 317 in the end. Rahul found some form while Pandya’s 26-ball fifty was the fastest by a debutant from any nation.

Trivia : Krunal Pandya averages 14 vs the short ball (11 dismissals) in the last three IPL seasons and England did target him with that ploy but comtrary to his record against the delivery, he smashed everything to the fence and beyond that was above his hips.

In the second innings, England got off to a flier as Roy and Bairstow, a very successful opening pair tore apart almost every Indian bowler in their first spell. They scored 135 off just 14.1 overs and the signs were ominous for India as the run-rate was never an issue for the English right from the start. But when Virat Kohli handed the ball to debutant Krishna in the 15th over despite recieving a pounding early on, he dismissed Roy with a catch at backward point. The new number three, Ben Stokes found the substitute fielder Gill at short cover and then Shardul picked up two key wickets in Bairstow ( 94 off 66) and Morgan who was victim to short-pitched bowling. After Butler was given out as he failed to clip the ball off his legs and at 176/5, England’s ship was all but ready to sink in the water. They were bowled out for 251 as Krishna ended up with 4 wickets along with commendable performances by Bhuvi and Shardul.

As far as injuries are concerned, both teams have players who suffered from them in this game. Sam Billings sprained his collar bone joint while Morgan split the webbing between his right thumb and index finger. For India, Iyer’s left shoulder looked seriously damaged as he was taken for scans and Rohit was hit on his right elbow as mentioned earlier, while batting which is why he opted to sit out during the second innings.

England batted in the typical fashion they have always supported as the flying start had put them in a great position but after the first few wickets fell, the others probably should have taken a little more time to analyse the situation. The Run-rate was never an issue for England therefore the hurried approach got them into a bit of an entanglement in the chase. A complete game for India who couldn’t have asked for more as both, Dhawan and Rahul were back amongst the the runs and like all of their debutants Krunal and Prasidh, arrived at the international arena with a bang.

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