Maharashtra: Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer’s mouthwatering fifties helped India to clinch a four-wicket triumph over England in the first ODI match of the series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday.
With the magnificent win in Nagpur, the Men in Blue took a 1-0 lead over the Three Lions in the ODI series.
India needed to chase the 249-run target in the second inning. Yashasvi Jaiswal (15 runs from 22 balls, 3 fours) and captain Rohit Sharma (2 runs from 7 balls) opened for the Men in Blue but failed to make a mark as they could only cement a partnership of 19 runs.
Jofra Archer drew the first blood in the second inning as he removed Jaiswal in the 4.3 overs.
Shubman Gill replaced Jaiswal on the crease and aimed to make a partnership with Rohit. However, the skipper failed to shine on the crease with the bat, he was dismissed in 5.2 overs by Saqib Mahmood.
Shreyas Iyer (59 runs from 36 balls, 9 fours and 2 sixes) came on the crease in place of Rohit Sharma and solidified a stupendous 94-run partnership with Gill, giving the Men in Blue a kickstart in the game.
Iyer played an attacking game on Thursday at a strike rate of 163.89. He completed his half-century in the 14th over in style by hitting a four.
Gill-Axar’s duo helped India to inch closer to the win on Thursday. When everything was going in favour of the hosts, Adil Rashid picked up a consolation wicket for England as he removed Axar from the crease in the 33.4 overs.
The Men in Blue will lock horns against England in the second match of the ODI series on Sunday in Cuttuck.
England elected to bat first after winning the toss. Openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett gave England a fine start. Salt saved his best for debutant Harshit Rana, greeting him with two boundaries in his first over and then demolishing him with a 26-run sixth over, consisting of three sixes and two fours.
Brief Scores: England: 248 (Jos Buttler 52, Jacob Bethell 51, Phil Salt 43; Ravindra Jadeja 3/26) vs India 251/6 (Shubman Gill 87, Shreyas Iyer 59, Axar Patel 52; Saqib Mahmood 2/47).