India vs England 2021: IN PICTURES – India pulls off superb comeback to draw first blood in ODI series

England failed to capitalise on a rollicking start as they conceded a 66 run loss in the ODI series opener. India pulled off a brilliant comeback with the ball to take home the first ODI in Pune. An all-round performance from the hosts saw them outplay England in all departments. The pick of the players were debutants Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna as they flourished under pressure.

Put in bat first, India put up a respectable total of 317 on the board thanks to half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Krunal. Dhawan and Kohli put up a great partnership at the top to provide India a perfect platform to accelerate. Rahul and Krunal then provided the hosts a scintillating finish as the duo stitched a century stand in the last nine overs.

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In the chase, England were off to a flier as Jonny Bairstow came out all guns blazing. However, the wicket of Jason Roy brought about regular wickets as the Englishmen kept falling despite having the required run-rate under control. Prasidh Krishna who was taken for runs initially came roaring back with three wickets.

The game’s turning point, however, was a double-wicket over from Shardul Thakur to remove Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler. England tried to guard their wickets later on since the required rate was below 6. However, the pacers kept picking wicket after wicket with an excellent display to bowl the visitors out for 251 as they fell short by 66 runs.

In Pictures – India vs England, 1st ODI

India opener Shikhar Dhawan fired at the top to give the hosts a great start. Dhawan fell short of a well deserved century as he fell for 98 but his innings gave India a great platform to accelerate later.

Captain Virat Kohli continued where he left off in the T20I series. The flamboyant batsman brought yet another half-century in the tour as he departed for a well made 56 off 60 balls.

For England, Ben Stokes was the pick of the bowlers. The all-rounder finished for figures 3-34 in his quota of 10 overs. His wickets included those of dangerous Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya.

Snapping out of a string of low scores, KL Rahul finally found himself among runs. Rahul scored a quickfire 62 off 43 balls to give India a picture perfect finish with the bat.

Debutant Krunal Pandya took the big stage by storm with a whirlwind maiden ODI innings. Krunal smashed 58 off just 31 balls to support Rahul in finishing things in style. In the process, he smashed the fastest fifty by a debutant in ODI cricket.

Chasing a modest total of 318, the visitors got off to a flier. The opening partnership of worth 135 runs between Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy took the game away from India.

But debutant Prasidh Krishna was up to the task as he broke the mammoth opening stand. Krishna finished the game with four wickets after going for some runs in his opening spell. He also became the first India bowler to take a four-wicket haul on ODI debut.

Shardul Thakur turned the match upside down for the hosts today. Thakur scalped the valuable wickets of Eoin Morgan and Jos Butler in the same over to hand India the game. Thakur who scalped three wickets in the game was also the one who sent the dangerous Jonny Bairstow packing.

On a come back, Bhuvneshwar Kumar impressed in the longer format too. He troubled the England openers with his control and accuracy with the new ball before scalping two wickets towards the fag end of the game.

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