India crush England, win first ODI by 126 runs

2130 IST: England 174 all out after 36.1 overs J Dernbach b Ashwin 2 (5b) And that’s the final blow. England lose, rather embarrassingly. India rejoice, they have won by 126 runs in the most convincing manner possible. India stuttered early on and never looked like getting anywhere close to 300 but Raina and Dhoni played exceptionally well to get the team there. Once there, India didn’t put a foot wrong. The spinners, Ashwin (3-35) and Jadeja (3-34), were exceptional and they got good support from the seamers as well. England were never in the chase but this defeat really makes you question whether there are any teams around that have the capability of winnings in different conditions and different countries? England and India, both, have a legitimate claim at being at the best sides in the world at the moment but are they anywhere close to great Australian and West Indies teams? The answer, sadly, is no. But still great win for India. Heaven knows the fans needed it. 2119 IST: England 163/9 after 33.5 overs S Patel b Yadav 16 (18b 2x4) Low, fast and in line with the stumps. Perfect recipe for success on a wicket with variable bounce. Yadav got another one and India are almost home. Never thought that the Indian victory would come so easily. But let’s not complain, let’s rejoice… this has been a long time coming indeed. [caption id=“attachment_108442” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Umesh Yadav bowled with plenty of pace and fire. Getty Images”]  [/caption] 2110 IST: England 148/7 after 31.3 overs G Swann b Yadav 8 (9b, 1x4) Low bounce and pace is a lethal combination, Swann just found out. Umesh Yadav has bowled with pace and fire, albeit waywardly at time but he deserved a wicket, at least one, and he got it. 2059 IST: England 134/7 after 29.3 overs T Bresnan st Dhoni b Ashwin 4 (8b, 1x4) Another wicket. Is this payback? No. Not yet. But India can now start to party, there is no coming back from this. England have collapsed from 111 for 2 to 134 for 7. Now, it’s officially a collapse. 2053 IST: England 126/6 after 26.5 overs J Bairstow c & b Jadeja 3 (7b) And we may all get to go home early. Jadeja in the middle of a spectacular spell gets another wicket. Bairstow tries drive and hits it straight to the bowler, who takes the regulation catch with a fair degree of ease. This is over. There is no coming back from this and there is no Broad either. [caption id=“attachment_108402” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Indian fielders celebrate the fall of an England wicket. AFP”]  [/caption] 2048 IST: England 124/5 after 25.6 overs R Bopara c & b Ashwin 8 (10b) This is India in India. India can’t play swing, England can’t play spin. I guess in the end it balances itself out. Nothing will make for India’s humiliation in England but our guess is that a 5-0 whitewash will go some way towards healing the hurt. R Ashwin got into the act with some superb variation of pace to get Bopara. 2043 IST: England 120/4 after 24.4 overs J Trott b Jadeja 26 (42b) And England digging a big hole and jumping into it without any rope. First Cook committed cricket’s equivalent of suicide and then Trott. The run-rate was just fine but they decided they needed to step up and threw their wickets away. Trott was dismissed going for a wild sweep off Jadeja, who cleverly is bowling as straight as possible. India should not be complaining and they aren’t. Looks like a win for India now, unless Bopara or Bairstow play a blinder for England. 2035 IST: England 111/3 after 22.4 overs A Cook c Vinay Kumar b Jadeja 60 (63b, 7x4) And just when we said Cook was looking very good, he has a blood rush and tries to hit Jadeja out of the ground. Doesn’t connect very well and Vinay Kumar at long-on takes an easy catch. Much-needed breakthrough for India – the duo was looking settled and India’s bowlers were getting a little restless. 2025 IST: England 99/2 after 20 overs A Cook 51 (53), J Trott 20 (30) England are going about the task with a certain degree of calm. They seem to know what they are trying to achieve. They aren’t going for the big shots and even though they are chasing 300, they probably realise that this isn’t the time to hit the big shots. Cook got his 9th ODI 50 at a run-a-ball. Great going from his. And Trott is playing very well too. Big targets don’t phase players teams these days and that is probably a result of T20… nothing seems impossible any more. [caption id=“attachment_108371” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Cook stroked his way to a fine half-century. AFP”]  [/caption] 2002 IST: England 70/2 after 15 overs A Cook 31 (33), J Trott 12 (20) Cook is supposed to be one of England’s slowest batsmen but he seems to be doing pretty well for himself. He’s scoring at almost a run a ball and keeping the bowlers at bay as well. Umesh Yadav is working up a good pace, even touching 143 kph, but his radar’s a bit wonky. Pace is good but if you can’t get the line and length right, it doesn’t matter. 1938 IST: England 40/2 after 9.1 overs KP Pietersen run out (R Ashwin) 19 (29b, 3x4) Big blow to England’s chances. KP is back in the hut. The right-hander pushed the ball towards R Ashwin at mid-on and set off for a quick single. But the fielder was alert, picked it up cleanly and threw down the stumps in one quick motion. KP was just out of his crease. But big break for India. 1918 IST: England 26/1 after 5 overs A Cook 8 (10), K Pietersen 11 (11) India’s bowlers not having it easy, after the initial breakthrough, Pietersen and Cook have struck a few boundaries to quickly get the Indian bowlers back to planet Earth. This isn’t over by a long shot – everyone on the field surely knows that but a gentle reminder always helps. KP is dangerous, if he gets set, he can literally hit the bowlers off their length. With only one specialist spinners, R Ashwin, in the attack, India will need to tread carefully. 1901 IST: England 7/1 after 2.2 over C Kieswetter c Dhoni b Kumar 7 (8b, 1x4) ‘Kie’ wicket for India. This was the man that India must have feared most. A good start would have allowed England to rest easy but Praveen Kumar had different ideas. Bowled the perfect line, got Kieswetter to nibble at it. And India has it’s first wicket. Just the start India needed. Kevin Pietersen in next. And on twitter @greigtalks (Tony Greig) talks a bit too much: ‘It’s imperative that Eng let Ind win or the whining will never stop. It’s like the Boks – people complain about the ref before they say hi.’ 1855 IST: England 0/0 after 1 over A Cook 0 (6), C Kieswetter 0 (0) England are back on, this time with the bat in their hands. Their task is huge. Chasing 300 is never easy and it gets that little bit tougher when India start off with a maiden over from Praveen Kumar. England will need to play R Ashwin carefully and make the most of the overs that the medium-pacers bowl. 1818 IST: India 300/7 after 50 overs M Dhoni 87 (70), P Kumar 1 (1) What a super recovery by India! Consider this: they were 126 for 4 at the end of 30 overs. By normal standards, that would usually mean a total of around 250 at best. But Dhoni and Raina took things to another level. Raina started things off but it was Dhoni who finished things. This was vintage Dhoni – the helicopter shot and all that… just the long hair was missing. India would not even have hoped to get anywhere close to 300 but they are there and for a change, England will the ones feeling pretty down. This is crazy. Where did this come from? India scored 174 runs in the last 20 overs. Wow… wow… wow. England have the batting to do this but have they acclimatised well enough? India clearly have the upper hand now. Join us again in an hour when England begin their chase. And in case you are wondering… England have chased a 300-plus target in the subcontinent just once – against Pakistan in 2000. Some interesting stats from twitter courtesy @rajeshstats: ‘161 runs for India in the last 16 overs… five overs of 14 or more runs. Will this be enough for India’s inexperienced attack?’ [caption id=“attachment_108263” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Dhoni played a blinder for India. AFP”]  [/caption] 1755 IST: India 260/6 after 46 overs R Jadeja run out 27 (22b, 1x4, 2x6) There was a fear that after Raina’s dismissal the innings would slow down. But Jadeja ensured that none of that happened. It was a good knock. He even played the big shots. More could not be expected from him. Dhoni pushed the ball back to Bresnan who quickly turned and threw down the stumps to catch Jadeja just out of his ground. the partnership between Dhoni and Jadeja was worth 65 runs in 7.1 overs – a run-rate of 9.06. 1750 IST: India 251/5 after 45 overs M Dhoni 51 (49), R Jadeja 25 (20) After struggling initially, India have got their act together for the second half. The revival has a lot to do with Raina-Dhoni partnership. But the most impressive part of the innings has been the way, Dhoni has slowly worked India into a position of strength. He has a great sense of the moment, which is why he is a great captain too. Here, too, he waited for the right moment. While Raina was going for the big shots, he kept getting the singles and odd four. Now, he’s taking charge. This is the Dhoni we knew. England’s bowlers are struggling now. Even Jadeja is getting into the act with successive sixes off Samit Patel. The last 5 overs saw India put on 41 runs. 1730 IST: India 209/5 after 40 overs M Dhoni 31 (35), R Jadeja 5 (4) Superb five over-session for India. Finally, a big push came and the hosts needed it badly. Raina was the catalyst but Dhoni did his part as well. In the last five overs, India scored 59 runs. And England had started looking pretty ragged, but the fall of Raina might tilt the balance in favour of the visitors again. India made the powerplay count and England as they have in recent times, struggled to make any impact. 1724 IST: India 195/5 after 38.5 overs S Raina c Bairstow b Finn 61 (55b, 5x4, 2x6) Raina was playing an absolute beauty here. But it begs the question: Has he become a one-day wonder like Bevan, Yuvraj and so many others before him? It would be a waste to lose a talent like him. When he starts going for his shots, he is so difficult to stop. He got to his 50 off 52 balls with a consecutive four and six. England’s bowlers struggled in the powerplay but now India finally has some momentum to play with. If Dhoni and Raina get going, India could easily get to 250-plus and make a game out of this. But it was too good to last. Raina gone after top-edging Finn. The partnership was worth 72 runs in just 10 overs. Big breakthrough for England. And on twitter, @rajeststats informs us: ‘Dhoni-Raina are one of only 7 non-opening Indian pairs to score more than 2000 partnership runs in ODIs.’ [caption id=“attachment_108138” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Raina has looked in superb touch. Getty Images”]  [/caption] 1700 IST: India 150/4 after 35 overs S Raina 36 (42), MS Dhoni 11 (21) Nine fours in the innings so far and looks like Raina and Dhoni have finally found some sort of balance. This is a vital session of play for India. They will need to slowly emerge out of their shell. It has to be done in a calm, structured manner – unlike a T20 match, a five over blast can help things, not settle the matter. England are continuing to keep things tight with disciplined bowling and good ground fielding. 1639 IST: India 126/4 after 30 overs S Raina 22 (30), MS Dhoni 1 (3) Are India still tired or has that excuse run it’s course? Is the ball swinging too much? or too little? Or are we simply losing because we don’t have our best players? Whatever the reason may be, England are clearly on top. If they get Dhoni or Raina, India might even struggle to get 200. It’s a very dangerous phase for India – one that they need to bat throw without losing any more wickets. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Praveen Kumar can bat but you will not want to leave it to them. 1633 IST: India 123/4 after 28.5 overs V Kohli c Pietersen b Patel 37 (63b) That ball seemed headed for a six but Pietersen, all 6'5" of him, jumped up high and took a spectacular catch right on the boundary line. Simply superb. Kohli can’t believe it and neither can anyone in the stadium. India have lost their fourth wicket and it’s not looking easy at all. Dhoni in next and he needs to produce a miracle. Dhoni and Raina… together… they will need to take India to safety. 1623 IST: India 114/3 after 25 overs V Kohli 32 (46), S Raina 16 (20) What total should India be satisfied by? The way they are going, they will need to have a really long slog session to put England under any kind of pressure. Suresh Raina survived a run-out chance. It was really close but he’s still there. India, however, will need to get a move on now. One of the batsmen will have to start going for this shots. But the sluggish outfield isn’t helping them. They need to run their singles well. [caption id=“attachment_108066” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Kohli’s batting well for India. Getty Images”]  [/caption] 1603 IST: India 87/3 after 20 overs V Kohli 19 (30), S Raina 1 (4) Raina comes in and so do the bouncers. The big surprise at this point of the innings is that India have hit only 5 fours in 20 overs. Pretty strange for a generation that has grown up on T20 cricket. Where have the big shots disappeared? For now, though, the batsmen will need to ensure that they just hang around for as long as possible. This isn’t looking very good for India right now. England are bowling superbly and their fielding within the circle is exceptional as well. 1552 IST: India 76/2 after 17.5 overs G Gambhir lbw b Dernbach 32 (33b, 4x4) And Dernbach’s variations get their due reward. A slower one, out of the back of the hand, fools the left-hander completely and traps him in front of the stumps. He was the only Indian batsman who was looking good and this wicket is going to hurt India a lot. Meanwhile on twitter, @SANJAYMANJREKAR: for all his talent..rahane wasting some seriously good opportunities.. batting at no 1,2 and 3 on ind pitches in one day cricket are god sent opportunties. [caption id=“attachment_108044” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“England are bowling very well. Getty Images”]  [/caption] 1537 IST: India 66/2 after 15 overs G Gambhir 26 (25), V Kohli 7 (14) Birthday boy Gambhir seems to be comfortable but almost everyone else struggling to get their placement right. A rather slow pace but India need to stay cool. Throwing wickets away is not going to help their cause. Keep wickets in hand and sooner rather than later, India’s batsmen will find their feet. It seems to be a slowish track and one can’t help but wonder whether Dhoni’s decision to play just one specialist spinner might come back to hurt India. Anyway, for now, they need to worry about putting the runs on board. Anything about 250 should be a challenge on a slowish pitch. Meanwhile on twitter, @BigHendo57 has a thought: ‘Wonder if Kholi will be as ‘pumped’ for India was he was for RCB?’ 1525 IST: India 52/2 after 11.4 overs AM Rahane st Kieswetter b Swann 15 (41b) It was bound to happen. Rahane was unable to get the ball off the square. He could not even get the singles. When he saw Swann being brought into the attack, he thought it was his chance to break free. Didn’t quite happen that way. He charged down the wicket but failed to get to the pitch of the ball and was stumped. Bad cricket from India; kudos to England for the manner in which they bottled Rahane up. India are two down and Kohli is in next. The partnership was worth 35 runs from 7.5 overs. 1514 IST: India 47/1 after 10 overs A Rahane 12 (33), G Gambhir 17 (17) India finally getting a move on. Gambhir has helped issue but maintaining a good strike-rate but Rahane looks like he is settling in for the long haul or has he rattled by the dropped chance early on. Either way, this is India – the ball isn’t moving about, the batsmen aren’t it trouble… we should feel like World Champions again. Rahane is struggling big-time. It won’t be a surprise if he does something rash here. Gambhir needs to talk to him. Early days still. Slow-ball master Jade Dernback was brought into the attack in place of Tim Bresnan, who conceded 21 runs in his four overs. Steve Finn at the other end is bowling well and working up a good rhythm. But too many extras from England already – 9 wides in the first 10 overs already. 1450 IST: India 19/1 after 5 overs A Rahane 4 (16), G Gambhir 1 (4) India need to make the first 15 overs count, they need a good start. It’s always been the case in India, get 100 on the board as quickly as possible, consolidate, take advantage of the powerplay overs between 16 and 40 and then slog. Gambhir needs to play a long innings, India needs him to play a long innings on his birthday. Rahane, who was dropped early, will need to make the chance count as well. He had a good outing in the Irani Cup so should be feeling pretty good about his game. Meanwhile on twitter, former India opener Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) has this to say: Two new balls, new powerplay rules…should keep captains on their toes. Btw good to see English bowlers bowling a lot fuller. [caption id=“attachment_107930” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Patel was unlucky to be caught out of his crease. Getty Images”]  [/caption] 1445 IST: India 17/1 after 3.5 overs PA Patel run out 9 (10b, 1x4) So India decide to go with Patel and Rahane as openers. They keep Gambhir at number three, will lend more solidity to the batting order and his experience will surely help. Another indication of luck going India’s way was when Rahane was dropped in the second over. It was an easy catch. Rahane edged a Steve Finn-delivery straight to first slip but Trott was caught napping. If you are an India fan, you are no doubt saying ‘good start’ to the England fielders. India will need to put up big runs to account for their inexperienced bowling line-up. But the luck didn’t last forever. Rahan’e straight driver was good to look at but Finn’s long fingers get a tough and Patel is run-out at the non-striker’s end. Pre-match Finally, some luck for Dhoni. After having endured the humiliation of England and losing out in the CLT20 as skipper of the Chennai Super Kings, the Indian finally called correctly at the toss and promptly elected to bat. There’s no better way to give your bowlers some confidence than to put up some big runs. With the new ICC rules in play, the ball will never get too old, there won’t be too much reverse swing and the spinners will have to stick to tactics learnt in T20 cricket. [caption id=“attachment_107839” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Dhoni and Fletcher have their task cut out. Reuters”]  [/caption] The tactics will be a bit confusing at first so it might even help Dhoni to see how England go about things. That said, Dhoni and his team know the conditions better than the opposition and that itself is a big plus. India, on their part, are playing three seamers and R Ashwin is the lone specialist spinner. Good job too, considering how badly Rahul Sharma bowled in the Irani Cup. It almost seems a given that Harbhajan might find his way back into the squad sooner rather than later. For England, Ian Bell is not playing but the likes of Craig Kieswetter, Jonny Bairstow and Kevin Pietersen bring more than enough firepower to the team. Add the likes of Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook to the mix and you know India are in for a fight. Will India finally get a win against England?