Finance
Shubman Gill fell short of a well-deserved century, but shared significant partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (59) and Axar Patel (52) as India beat England by four wickets in the opening ODI of the three-match series on Thursday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium.
Chasing 249 for victory after Ravindra Jadeja (3-26) and debutant Harshit Rana (3-53) helped the hosts wipe out England for a modest total, and without the talismanic Virat Kohli, Gill, Iyer, and Axar each smashed fifty as India reached 251/6 off 38.4 overs to win with 68 balls remaining.
Gill was dismissed for 87, having shared a 94-run partnership for third wicket with Iyer and a 108-run stand for fourth wicket with Axar as India raced to a comprehensive win after Buttler had won the toss and elected to bat first.
India were off to a poor start as skipper Rohit Sharma (2) and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal were out with 15 runs on the board. Rohit stayed for seven balls as he spooned a catch to mid-off, mistiming an inswinger from Saqib Mahmood to Liam Livingstone. Jaiswal’s first ODI knock fetched 15 runs off 22 balls and was included three fours before he edged behind and away-moving from Jofra Archer pitched on off-stump.
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who played a counter-punching knock, took India to safety and past the 100-run mark, sharing a vital partnership of 94 runs with Iyer racing to his fifty off 30 balls, hitting four fours and two sixes.
The Mumbai batsman hit a four off Mahmood’s third ball and then hammered back-to-back sixes off Archer in the seventh over, springing back and hitting high over midwicket before ramping a short one outside off over third-man.
As his confidence grew, Iyer played more beautiful shots, blasting three fours off Brydon Carse in one over and creaming two boundaries in three balls off Jacob Bethell in the 14th over, paddle sweeping the fourth delivery to short fine to complete his fifty, and dabbling one through third for his ninth four of the day.
Bethell had the final laugh as Iyer was eventually out for 59 from 36 balls (9×4, 2×6), caught in front as he attempted a sweep and missed it completely. He reviewed it but could not overturn the decision as DRS showed three reds on ball-tracking.
Shubman Gill continued his vigil at the other end and completed his 14th ODI fifty off 60 balls, hitting seven fours. He struck Archer for two fours in one over and also had boundaries off Adil Rashid, Carse and Liam Livingstone as he played some elegant shots, using his wrists and timing well as he spent time at the wicket. He also got an ‘out’ decision on DRS as he had edged it into his pads off Livingstone. He blasted Archer for three more boundaries, two of them — a short-arm jab and a sweetly-timed slash past backward point being his best shots of the evening.
He found a willing partner in Axar Patel, who was asked to bat higher in the order at No.5 to keep the left-right combination going, as they propelled India towards the 200-run mark, reaching the fifty off their partnership in 51 balls, Axar helped himself to a couple of fours off Carse and Gill struck the spinner to back-to-back boundaries in the 29th over as India raced towards the victory target.
As the bowlers struggled with the dew making the ball wet, Axar completed his third fifty and first in India in 46 balls, smashing six boundaries and one six. Gill continued to shine as he entered the 80s, as the duo completed 100 of their fourth wicket stand in 98 balls, putting England at bay with some solid batting peppered with sweetly-timed blows.
Adil Rashid smashed Axar with a massive turning, slow leg-spinner from around the wicket, pitching outside off for the lefty and going through the gate to remove the bails. Axar was out for 52, but India was well on their way to win at 221 for four, needing 28 from 97 balls.
With Gill aiming for a century, India lost two quick wickets from 221/4 to 235/6, with KL Rahul (2) and Gill departing. Buttler caught Gill brilliantly off Saqib Mahmood as he attempted to reach three figures. But Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja ensured that hosts India reached the mark in under 38.2 overs, defeating England by four wickets with 68 balls remaining.
Brief scores: England 248 all out in 47.4 overs (Jos Buttler 52, Jacob Bethell 51; Ravindra Jadeja 3-26, Harshit Rana 3-53) lost to India 251/6 in 38.4 overs (Shubman Gill 87, Shreyas Iyer 59, Axar Patel 52; Saqib Mahmood 2-47, Adil Rashid 2-49) by four wickets
Source: IANS
