Kuldeep Yadav, Rohit Sharma humiliate England in first ODI

India defeated England in the first ODI of the three match series by eight wickets and 59 balls to spare at Trent Bridge on Thursday. Kuldeep Yadav managed to derail the hosts once again picking up six England wickets restricting them to a total way below the par score at this venue. Rohit Sharma finished off things in style scoring an unbeaten 137 runs to put India 1-0 ahead in the three match series.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and had no hesitation to bowl first. England begun well scoring 71 runs in first 10 overs without losing any wickets. Kuldeep Yadav was brought into the attack straight after the powerplay and boy he bowled like a champion. He picked three wickets in his first two overs putting hosts on the back foot.

Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of Eoin Morgan who seemed to rebuilt along with Ben Stokes. The latter along with Jos Butler looked solid and both got to their half centuries giving England a glimmer of hope to cross the 300 run mark on a batting paradise. But Kuldeep Yadav had other plans, he sent Jos Butler back to pavilion in the 39th over as the score read 198/5. Ben Stokes was still there and England were hopeful of getting at least a respectable total. But once again, the china man came and broke all English hearts just as Croatia did a day before. He dismissed Ben Stokes and David Willey in the same over and finished with an unbelievable spell of bowling.

His achieved the record of becoming the only left arm spinner to take six wickets in an ODI. His match winning figures of 10-0-25-6 meant that India had to chase a total way below the par score at this high scoring venue.

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Eoin Morgan and his side were totally outplayed by Indian bowlers in the first innings of the first ODI. The ground where they scored 481 runs against Australia some days back saw a dismal performance this time around. At Trent Bridge, scores of 350 or above are termed to be par scores and England had managed just 268 runs.

India started off with a flurry of boundaries. Shikhar Dhawan looked in sublime touch and scored a quick 40 in just 27 balls. Though in the quest of playing an expansive shot, he perished on the bowling of Moeen Ali. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma was well set by then and was joined by skipper Virat Kohli. The two elegant batters had a partnership of 167 runs to nullify England’s chances of causing any kind of nerves in the Indian ranks. Virat Kohli played some praiseworthy shots before he got stumped on the bowling of Adil Rashid. In seven long years, this was the first time Virat Kohli got dismissed in this fashion.

England got the wicket of Virat Kohli but it was all too late with India needing only 43 runs in 102 balls. Rohit Sharma was still on the crease and looked as smooth and sublime like he played the other day at Bristol. He scored an unbeaten 137 runs to take India home in the first ODI and 1-0 up in the three match ODI series.

Brief scores: England 268/10 in 49.5 overs (Jos Butler 53, Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-25-6) lost to India 269/2 in 40.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 137*, Adil Rashid 10-0-62-1) by 8 wickets.