Rajkot: England beat India by nine runs in the first One Day International (ODI) at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.
Batting first, England posted a total of 325 for four in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, India could only manage 316 for nine from their 50.
England made their total after they elected to bat against India, getting off to a flying start as openers Alastair Cook (75) and Ian Bell (85) top-scored to take the tourists past the 150-mark without losing even a single wicket until the 27th over.
The Indian pace bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda, looked listless as none of them could either take a wicket or contain the batsmen until the death overs.
Only all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and part-time spinner Suresh Raina were able to contain the English batsmen for a while. They were the only bowlers to have an economy rate below six runs per over, while Raina was also successful in claiming the wicket of skipper Cook.
Dinda was finally successful after clinching the wickets of Kevin Pietersen (44) and Eoin Morgan (41).
Craig Kieswetter (24 not out) and Samit Patel (44 not out) struck some lusty shots towards the end of the innings to take England past 300, after the Indian spinners reduced the run-rate in the middle-overs.
Joe Root debuted for England but did not get an opportunity to bat.
In reply, India also made a rapid start and were ahead of the required run-rate thanks to openers Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir. They dispatched pace bowlers Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach and Tim Bresnan with ease, but the introduction of spinner James Tredwell changed the match.
Tredwell, in for the rested Graeme Swann, had Rahane caught by Dernbach at long-off and Gambhir snaffled by Bell at midwicket.
England were on top at that stage, but some big hitting by Yuvraj Singh, Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni kept India in the game until the very end, when regular wickets meant the asking rate spiralled. Tredwell finished with an impressive four for 44 from his 10 overs, while Dernbach and Bresnan had two wickets each.
