England has lost their first ODI to India despite having the upper hand earlier in the day after a combined effort from Jonny Bairstow, who made 94 from 66 balls, and Jason Roy who made 46 from 35 balls. England then had to end the day at 251 with 42 overs while India earned their victory with 317-5. The home team owe their win to Shikhar Dhawan’s 98 from 106 balls and Krunal Pandya, playing his first ODI, who made 58 (not out) from 31 balls.

Riding on their success from the recently concluded four-Test series where they defeated England 3-1, India proved, once again, why they are the number one team in the world. England was unable to convert the earlier lead they had to victory. India’s chance came as soon as England’s ODI skipper, Eoin Morgan, was off the pitch. Morgan had to get stitches for a split in the webbing between his right thumb and index finger. That departure gave India a boost as Pandya and KL Rahul (62 from 43 balls) saw it as a chance to push their team forward.

This is not to say that India merely capitalized on the mistakes of the other team. The kind of game they played, they waited for the match to proceed before they launched their attack. The exit of Morgan and other gaffes from the visiting team sort of made things easier for India. A lot of their players made fifties, including Virat Kohli (56), Dhawan, Pandya, and Rahul. This helped to boost their score.

The English side suffered a bit, even though Ben Stokes and Mark Wood tried to keep India in check. Moeen Ali was the one who dismissed Kohli after earlier dropping Dhawan at 56. But all of these did not prove much leverage as they were defeated by over 60. They also have to deal with injured players like Morgan and Sam Billings who sprained his collar bone.

India and England would meet on the second ODI on Friday.

Written by: Leon Osamor