NAGPUR, India (AP) — Debutant Harshit Rana grabbed three wickets and vice-captain Shubman Gill hit 87 runs off 96 balls for India to beat England by four wickets in the first one-day international at VCA Stadium on Thursday.
Rana took 3-53 in seven overs to help bowl out England for 248 runs in 47.4 overs after Jos Buttler opted to bat. Veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja picked up 3-26 and pacer Mohammed Shami took 1-38 in eight overs.
Gill anchored India's chase after Shreyas Iyer's 31-ball half-century. Iyer's 59 runs and his 94-run partnership off 64 balls with Gill under-pinned India's score. Gill added 108 runs off 107 balls with Axar Patel, whose 52 was his maiden ODI half-century.
India leads the three-match series 1-0. Cuttack hosts the second ODI on Sunday.
Earlier, England made a hectic start as openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett (32) put on 73 off 53 balls.
Salt smacked three sixes and five boundaries in 43 off 26 balls before he was caught in a mix-up and was run out against the run of play.
England then lost two wickets in seven deliveries: Rana dismissed Duckett thanks to a diving catch by fellow debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal, then Harry Brook was caught behind for a three-ball duck. The visitors were down to 77-3.
Joe Root (19) and Buttler pushed the score past 100 until Jadeja trapped Root.
Buttler scored his first half-century on Indian soil — 52 off 67 including four fours — in a half-century stand with Jacob Bethell.
Bethell pitched in with 51 off 64 balls, including three fours and a six.
But after Buttler was dismissed by Axar Patel in the 33rd over, English went from 170-4 to 206-7. Rana sent back Liam Livingstone for 5 and Shami bowled Brydon Carse for 10.
Jadeja trapped Bethell lbw, too, and England finished with an under-par score.
Chasing 249, India lost two batters early. Jaiswal was caught behind for 15 off 22 balls in his maiden outing, and skipper Rohit Sharma’s poor run continued as he was out caught on 2.
Iyer's quickfire 50 grabbed back the momentum for India. Iyer smacked two sixes and nine fours and allowed Gill to take his time and settle in.
Bethell got Iyer lbw in the 16th over but Patel was promoted to No. 5 and the left-right batting combination did the trick for India and pushed it close to the finish line.
Gill missed out on a century when Saqib Mahmood squeezed him for room, while the batter was also suffering from cramps. Gill hit 14 boundaries among his 96 deliveries before lobbing a catch to mid-on.
India won with 11.2 overs to spare.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Chetan Narula, The Associated Press
