London, July 12 (IANS) Jasprit Bumrah’s career-best show with the ball (6/19) followed by a solid unbeaten opening stand between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan led India to a crushing 10-wicket win over England in the first ODI and take 1-0 lead in the three-match series at The Kennington Oval, here on Tuesday.
Bumrah’s sensational performance helped India bowl out England for a paltry 110 in 25.2 overs after winning the toss and opting to bowl first in bowling-friendly conditions. The 28-year-old with his career-best ODI figures of 6 for 19 became the first Indian pace bowler to take six wickets in an ODI in England. He was well supported by Mohammed Shami, who bagged 3 for 31 en route to becoming the joint third-fastest to 150 wickets, and Prasidh Krishna (1/26).
Skipper Jos Buttler (30 off 32) was the highest scorer for England, who kept losing wickets at regular intervals. David Willey (21 off 26), and Brydon Carse (15 off 26) were the other main contributors for the hosts.
Chasing a small total, Rohit and Shikhar stitched an unbeaten century partnership and led India to a convincing 10-wicket win in the 18.4 overs. Rohit hit six fours and five sixes in his 58-ball unbeaten 76, while Dhawan finished on 31 not out off 54, having hit the winning boundary. The pair also became the fourth to cross 5000 partnership runs for the opening wicket in the process.
Dhawan got off to a sedate start while the Indian captain was a bit edgy but Sharma got over it and started playing his shots, including a hook for a six off David Willey.
The left-hander, who was on 2 off 17, got going with a couple of cover drives for boundaries off Reece Topley in the 7th over, and the bowler was also pulled for a four by Sharma as he conceded 16. The half-century stand — the 33rd fifty-plus partnership for this pair — came when Sharma pulled Craig Overton for two successive sixes in the 10th over.
Dhawan scored his first 20 runs at a strike rate of only 50, however, Sharma was hitting the boundaries. At one point, Brydon Carse went up in a leg-before shout and England took the review but the umpire’s call went in favour of Sharma, who crossed 50 by dispatching a short ball from the same bowler for another six, bringing up his half-century off 49 deliveries.
The openers registered their 18th century partnership before Sharma pulled Carse for another six while Dhawan finished it off with a four as India won with 31.2 overs to spare.
Earlier, India had a dream start as Bumrah bowled a double-wicket maiden in the second over of the innings to rattle England. The pacer first troubled Jason Roy with a couple of deliveries swinging in sharply and then bowled one slightly wide and the batter ended up inside-edging it onto the stumps. Joe Root, who came to bat at No. 3 was troubled by some extra bounce as he outside-edged it to Rishabh Pant.
England were in more trouble as Ben Stokes also departed without scoring — the second occasion of three ducks among the top four for England in an ODI — after the left-hander got an inside edge to the ‘keeper while trying to defend Shami who came in from round the wicket.
Soon, Bumrah picked his third wicket by getting rid of Bairstow. Liam Livingstone also departed for a duck after getting bowled by an in-swinging delivery from Bumrah.
Hardik Pandya, who was playing an ODI game after a long time, nearly picked up a wicket in his first over when Buttler rode the bounce and almost chopped it on. Bumrah, given a fifth straight over, would have picked up the wicket of Moeen Ali had Pant not put down a tough chance down the leg side.
After getting reduced to 26-5, Buttler and Moeen played their shots and tried to build a partnership to resurrect England. They added 27 runs before Moeen got out to Prasidh Krishna. From there on, the onus was on Buttler but he also got out to Shami while playing the pull. In the same over, Craig Overton was also bowled as England were in shambles at 68/8.
However, England managed to cross the 100-run mark courtesy of a useful ninth-wicket association between David Willey and Brydon Carse. Their 35-run partnership in 41 balls came to an end when Carse was removed by Bumrah with a crushing yorker. Reece Topley hit a six off Yuzvendra Chahal but Willey was bowled by Bumrah as England were bundled out for 110 — their lowest ODI total against India.
Brief scores: England 110 all out in 25.2 overs (Jos Buttler 30, David Willey 21; Jasprit Bumrah 6/19, Mohammed Shami 3/31) lost to India 114 for no loss in 18.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 76 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 31 not out) by 10 wickets.
India Tribune, as an English weekly newspaper, was launched in 1977 in Chicago by its publisher Prashant Shah with a lofty ideal to serve the Asian Indian community in the USA. Over the years, it has grown with all vigor, and now it is being published in three editions – Chicago, New York and Atlanta. India Tribune, a journal of its kind for the family in the USA, has been a household name for many Indians for over three decades with each issue commanding a readership of over 125,000.
