IND vs ENG, 1st ODI: Team India have picked up their first win across seven completed matches as they beat England by six wickets in the first of the three ODIs at Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 14, Tuesday. Although the Men in Blue were imperfect with both bat and ball, they managed to win the key moments to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match rubber. The likes of Axar Patel, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah were the key performers for them in the series-opener.
IND vs ENG, 1st ODI: Here are the three turning points from Team India’s victory over England at Edgbaston
3) Shivam Dube drops Joe Root early in his innings
England found themselves in a hole after a strong start that saw them plunder a 61-run opening stand between Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett. But not too long after, they found themselves at 89/5. At 92/5, Joe Root, who was batting on 7, offered a caught and bowled chance to Shivam Dube, who could not hang on despite getting both hands on to the ball. The Yorkshire batter went on to make an unbeaten and a run-a-ball 76 and shared a century stand with Liam Dawson to give England a highly competitive total on a tricky surface.
2) Axar Patel’s death-over strikes
With pacer Gurnoor Brar suffering likely a minor injury, he wasn’t able to bowl the 48th over after Shubman Gill threw the ball to him. With Brar walking off the field, Axar Patel decided to bowl out after his previous nine overs yielded figures of 9-0-61-2. With the hosts’ total sitting at 257/8, the injury to Brar proved to be a blessing in disguise as England lost Adil Rashid and Josh Tongue in the same over to be bowled out on 258. Hence, it proved to the difference between England getting to a total of 275-280, especially with Root set on 76.
1) Shubman Gill’s injury
Team India captain Shubman Gill had twice taken an extended break due to cramping continuously stalling his progress. When batting at 80, he had to call for the physio again and eventually walked off as England sniffed an opportunity at winning. In the next two overs, the hosts had the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul to storm back into the contest. While England held the edge, Sundar and Axar denied them by sharing an unbroken partnership of 101 to take India over the line.
