England suffered a second comprehensive defeat to India in five days as a batting slump led to Jos Buttler’s side losing the first one-day international by four wickets in Nagpur.
The tourists were routed by 150 runs in the final T20 in Mumbai on Sunday, rolled for 97 in just 10.3 overs chasing a huge 248.
England made 248 all out on Thursday in a different format but would have hoped for so much more after Phil Salt (43 off 26) and Ben Duckett (32 off 29) powered them to 75-0 inside nine overs, a stand that included Salt thrashing 26 off one Harshit Rana over.
The away side then lost three wickets for two runs in eight balls, beginning with Salt being comically run out after a mix-up with Duckett, while Buttler’s dismissal for 52 from 67 balls triggered another malaise from 170-4 as only he and Jacob Bethell (51 off 64) carded half-centuries.
In reply, Shubman Gill (87), Shreyas Iyer (59 off 36) and Axar Patel (52 off 47) impressed as an India batting line-up deprived of Virat Kohli (knee) reached their target with 68 balls to spare after a late wobble to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series ahead of further games in Cuttack on Sunday and Ahmedabad next Wednesday.
India shipped three wickets for 14 runs towards the end of the game – including Gill and Axar after a fourth-wicket alliance of 108 – to slip to 235-6 but Hardik Pandya (9no) and Ravindra Jadeja (12no) guided the hosts over the line in 38.4 overs.
England offered up too many freebies with the ball on a good batting surface and were predictably short at times, something they will need to fix not only for this series but the ICC Champions Trophy that follows from February 19 to March 9, live on Sky Sports.
England slump after superb opening stand
Salt and Duckett’s onslaught had followed an opening-over maiden from Mohammed Shami, with Salt smoking ODI debutant Harshit for three sixes and two fours in a boundary-laden sixth over.
After Salt’s demise – he wanted a third run after chopping Hardik through point, Duckett didn’t and stayed rooted to the non-striker’s end – Harshit (3-53) stuck twice in the 10th over with short balls.
Phil Salt and Ben Duckett put on 75 for England inside nine overs before the former’s run out led to a collapse of two wickets for three runs
First, he had Duckett caught superbly by fellow debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal running back from midwicket before Harry Brook gloved down the leg-side for a three-ball duck.
Joe Root, playing his first white-ball game for England since the 2023 World Cup, shared a fourth-wicket stand of 34 with Buttler to steady the innings, only to then fall lbw to left-arm spinner Jadeja for 19.
Buttler and Bethell went on to add 59 for the fifth wicket but both fell shortly after clinching their fifties – Buttler top-edging a half-tracker from spinner Axar to short fine leg before Bethell was eighth out later on, pinned in front by the accurate Jadeja (3-26).
Jos Buttler (pictured) and Jacob Bethell were the only England players to pass fifty
There was little else for England to shout about batting-wise with Liam Livingstone (5 off 10) failing to make an impact as he snicked Harshit behind after walking down the pitch.
Livingstone’s dismissal ensured Harshit picked up a three-for on his ODI bow after doing likewise on his T20 international bow last week, when he was a controversial concussion substitute in Pune.
Archer provides batting cameo and early wicket but efforts in vain
Jofra Archer went four, six, four off Hardik in the 44th over en route to a punchy 21 off 18 balls in an England innings that ended when Kuldeep Yadav bowled Saqib Mahmood (2) with a full toss.
India’s Shreyas Iyer slammed a 30-ball half-century in Nagpur
England sensed an unlikely victory when they reduced India to 19-2 – Jaiswal (16) snicking a beauty from Archer behind during the pace bowler’s largely excellent opening spell, before a desperately short of form Rohit Sharma (2) spooned Mahmood to midwicket.
But Shreyas eased to a 30-ball half-century after latching onto anything full, short and wide from England’s attack, sharing a stand of 94 from 54 balls with Gill prior to being trapped lbw on the sweep by Bethell’s left-arm spin.
Gill and Axar largely snuffed out any lingering hopes of an England win and the tourists plummeted to a fifth defeat in six fixtures on this tour after being drubbed 4-1 in the T20 international leg.
Adil Rashid’s wickets of Axar and KL Rahul (2) – the former out to a delicious leg-break, the latter caught and bowled – and Mahmood having Gill caught at mid-on came too late.
England in India – results and fixtures 🏏
All times UK and Ireland ⏰
- First ODI (Nagpur): February 6 – India won by four wickets 🔵
- Second ODI (Cuttack): Sunday February 9 (8am) 🕗
- Third ODI (Ahmedabad): Wednesday February 12 (8am) 🕗
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