England vs India, 1st ODI: 5 Talking points from the game

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After winning the decider at Bristol to seal the T20I series, India walked into the ODI series riding high on confidence as they look to give England a tough fight in a format where they have been on a roll in the past two years. It was a faceoff between the No.1 and No.2 ranked ODI side and certainly the two best teams currently in the International circuit.

The first encounter of the 3-match ODI series was scheduled to take place at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. This was the same venue where England, a month ago, registered the highest ODI total of 481 against Australia.

On a pleasant afternoon, Virat Kohli won the toss and asked the home team to put runs on the board. England started convincingly in the powerplay but it was only before Kuldeep came and wreaked havoc in that English middle order to push the hosts on the backfoot. His astonishing performance helped India to bowl them out to just 268 runs.

Chasing a modest 269, India's chase was intimidating for the home team. After a quick fiery 40 by Shikhar Dhawan, the duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli eased their way to see India home easily. Rohit, with his remarkable ton, did enough to send a strong message in the English camp as India cruised their way to victory by 8 wickets.

We take a look at 5 talking points from the match:


#1 Kuldeep Yadav leaves England stranded with his Chinaman

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It was only time when Kuldeep Yadav unjustified Kohli’s decision to not play him in the decider of the T20I series in Bristol citing reasons of the shorter boundaries. The left-arm leg-spinner was yet again back in the business with England batsmen failing to pick him from his wrist.

His success has been supported by the fact that he has not tried to experiment much with his bowling and has stuck to his orthodox variations with googly and leg spin being his stock deliveries.

Even in today’s fixture, the Chinaman was right on the money to wreak havoc in that unsettled English middle order. He was impressive in his first spell to strike thrice in a span of 11 deliveries to see visitors make a comeback into the game.

Even in his 2nd spell, he continued his carnage to add three more to his tally to bag his maiden fifer in ODI cricket. He finished with mesmerizing figures of 6 for 25 in his 10 overs to become the only left-arm leg-spinner to bag a 6-fer in limited overs cricket.

#2 Stokes-Buttler partnership steadies the ship for England

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It was a remarkable spell from Kuldeep Yadav to see England on the backfoot after the decent opening stand in the first ten overs. The leg-spinner struck thrice in his opening spell, leaving the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and others, with a lot to fill in to help their side to a respectable total.

Stokes, man on a comeback trail was ably supported by Buttler, who is in form of his life to steady the ship as they looked to resurrect the innings after the early setback.

Indian bowlers failed to get past the duo majorly because it was a cautious approach from the two English batsmen. It was a handy 93 run partnership for the 5th wicket that saw England set the platform to go berserk in the third powerplay.

But Kuldeep didn’t allow them to flourish in the end and managed to send Buttler and Stokes packing before they could turn on the beast mode. However, the partnership gave England with a lot to play with as they were bowled out for 268 in 49.5 overs.

#3 Joe Root’s lean patch continues

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Being one among the fab 4 of the World cricket, Joe Root has failed to live up to the reputation that he gained courtesy of his valuable performances in the Test Cricket. The English cricketer has not done enough justice to his batting talent in the limited overs format. Rated as one of the most prolific Test batsmen, Root hasn’t made it big anytime in ODI or T20 format.

With merely 11 tons so far in his ODI career, Root has often missed the opportunity to convert his starts into big hundreds for his side. His recent form has been a problem of concern for his team. Even in today’s fixture, Root was completely foxed by Kuldeep to get him trapped in front of the wicket.

It was a consecutive failure for the third time in the series when he failed to even get past the single digit score in as many games. England Test captain has been the batting mainstay in Test cricket but his limitations in ODI and T20 makes him a one-dimensional player in the limited overs format.

#4 Rohit Sharma – once again does it in elegant style

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Rohit Sharma seems to have developed a liking for the white ball cricket in the English conditions. Be it his career-changing stint at the Champions Trophy 2013 or his latest exploits on this tour, he is loving to bat in these batting friendly conditions.

Carrying on his form from the T20Is series, Rohit struck yet another century, 18th for him in ODI cricket to see the hosts down and out in the first game of the series.

The flamboyant opener made a cautious start and capitalized later to reach the magical three-figure mark. He played according to the situation to nudge balls around for ones and twos and didn’t leave any chance to send the loose balls to the boundary.

It was a well-paced innings that included fifteen fours and four sixes. He stuck in a match-defining partnership of 167 runs for the 2nd wicket with skipper Virat Kohli to rule England out of the game. He carried his bat to remain unbeaten on 137 to see India go 1-0 up in the 3-match ODI series.

#5 England bowlers rendered helpless as India tear them apart

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It was one of those days at the office when nothing went as per plan for the home team. After falling to a trap by Kuldeep Yadav, bowlers were left helpless as India made a mockery of the target to achieve it with more than nine overs to spare.

With just 268 runs on the board on that kind of a wicket, it was always asking for trouble to defend it against that batting heavy Indian side.

The duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made it look as a paltry total by giving away nothing to the bowlers. It was a chase that was executed with perfection. The only two wickets to fell were taken by spinners who apart from it looked no worthy to inflict any damage.

None of the seam bowlers posed any challenge to the Indian batsmen as the hosts looked down and out against a much dominating Indian side. They lacked the belief to defend the total which even reflected in their body language as the visitors coasted their way to an easy win.


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Edited by Kishan Prasad