India Vs England 1st ODI Match Report
On February 6, 2025, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, India clinched a a one sided victory over England by four wickets in the first ODI of the series.
England’s Innings:
England’s innings began on a clear day at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium as the pitch offered early assistance to the bowlers. Phil Salt and Ben Duckett opened the batting for England, trying to make an impression from the get-go. Salt was particularly aggressive, scoring a quickfire 43 off 26 balls, with five boundaries before being run out after some miscommunication with Duckett. Duckett was caught off Harshit Rana’s bowling by Yashasvi Jaiswal for 40, making it 77 for 2, with one wicket already down by the, tenth over.
Joe Root and Harry Brook came in to bat, though Brook could not make an impact, falling for a duck, that was caught by KL Rahul off Rana’s bowling. Root tried to keep things together, but was leg-before-wicket to Ravindra Jadeja for 19. Then came Captain Jos Buttler. He steadied the innings with a fine 52 off 67 balls, striking 4 boundaries. His partnership with Jacob Bethell, who made a decent 51 off 64 balls, took England across the 150-run mark.
Once this partnership was broken by Jadeja, England’s middle and lower order succumbed. Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, and Adil Rashid all got starts but could not turn them into heavy runs, as Livingstone and Carse fell to Harshit Rana and Mohammed Shami respectively. In the end, there was a little cameo from Jofra Archer, who made 21 not out off 18 balls to boost England slightly, but they were bowled out for 248 in 47.4 overs. Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers for India with a miserly 3/26, while Harshit Rana had 3 for 53 and Kuldeep Yadav added pressure on England’s batting line-up with 1/53 in the last over.
India’s Innings:
With a target to chase on 249, India commenced their innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma. While Jaiswal looked in good touch, he eventually fell to Jofra Archer, caught by Salt at 15. Not lucky either was Sharma, who was caught off of Saqib Mahmood by Liam Livingstone for just 2, putting India in a precarious position at 19 for 2.
Shubman Gill then strolled in and, along with Shreyas Iyer, started rebuilding the innings. Shubman Gill was belligerent, scoring a great 87 off 96 balls with 14 to the fence in what were exquisite shots all around the park. Iyer compensated with a pyrotechnically striking 59 off 36 balls facing 9 fours and 2 sixes till he got trapped lbw by Jacob Bethell.
The 94 runs between the two lifted the chase for India.
Axar Patel then came into play, scoring a very important 52 off 47 balls with 6 fours and 1 six, pushing India ahead. KL Rahul had only that many innings to play; he departed for 2 after being caught and bowled by Adil Rashid. But by then, the journey had crossed halfway, with Gill also getting out for a good knock of 87, being caught by Buttler off Mahmood.
With 70 balls to spare, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja added the finishing touches, remaining not out on 9 and 12, respectively. The best bowler for England was Jofra Archer with figures of 1 for 39, whereas both Saqib Mahmood and Adil Rashid grabbed two wickets apiece.
The match is a case study in terms of the depth of Indian batting and bowling by showing the resilience and adaptability needed at various stages in the game which not only led to a comfortable win in the first ODI in the series.
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