Debutant Harshit Rana took three wickets and vice-captain Shubman Gill scored 87 off 96 balls for India to win the first one-day international against England by four wickets at VCA Stadium on Thursday.
Rana took 3-53 in seven overs to guide bowl England out for 248 runs in 47.4 overs after Jos Buttler decided to bat. Veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja picked up 3-26 and pacer Mohammed Shami took 1-38 in eight overs.
Gill gave India a solid foundation to chase after Shreyas Iyer's 31-ball half-century. Iyer's 59 runs and his 94-run partnership off 64 balls with Gill under-pinned India's score. Gill added 108 runs off 107 balls with Axar Patel, whose 52 was his maiden ODI half-century.
India leads the three-match series 1-0. Cuttack hosts the second ODI on Sunday.
The team has made an even more crazy opening as early on, opening combination Phil Salt and Ben Duckett (32) added 73 off 53 balls.
Phil Salt managed three sixes along with five fours in his aggressive 43 in 26-ball innings till was run over caught in mix up against run of play.
England then lost two wickets in seven deliveries: Rana bowled Duckett with a diving catch courtesy of fellow debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal, and then Harry Brook became another victim of Marsh's as he was caught behind for a three-ball duck. The visitors were down to 77-3.
Joe Root (19) and Buttler pushed the score past 100 until Jadeja trapped Root.
Buttler scored his first half-century on Indian soil — 52 off 67 including four fours — in a half-century stand with Jacob Bethell.
Bethell pitched in with 51 off 64 balls, including three fours and a six.
But after Buttler was dismissed by Axar Patel in the 33rd over, English went from 170-4 to 206-7. Rana sent back Liam Livingstone for 5 and Shami bowled Brydon Carse for 10.
Jadeja trapped Bethell lbw, too, and England finished with an under-par score.
Chasing 249, India lost two batters early. Jaiswal was caught behind for 15 off 22 balls in his maiden outing, and skipper Rohit Sharma's poor run continued as he was out caught on 2.
Iyer's fireworks of 50 turned the momentum back in favor of India. Iyer hit two sixes and nine fours while letting Gill play at a good pace and settle down.
Bethell got Iyer lbw in the 16th over but Patel was promoted to No. 5 and the left-right batting combination did the trick for India and pushed it close to the finishing line.
Gill was denied a century when Saqib Mahmood squeezed him for room, and the batter was also suffering from cramps. Gill hit 14 boundaries among his 96 deliveries before lobbing a catch to mid-on.
India won with 11.2 overs to spare.
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