Thaindian News

Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) Devastating spells by Ravindra Jadeja and R. Ashwin after a captain’s knock by M.S. Dhoni helped India to score a massive victory by 126 runs against England in the first one-Day International at the Rajiv Gandhi international Stadium here.

Chasing 301 for victory, England were bundled out for 174 in 36.1 overs, giving India a huge win with 13.5 overs to spare.

Jadeja (three for 34) and Ashwin (three for 35) crushed the England batting line-up as the visitors lost eight wickets for 63 runs.

India achieved early breakthrough when Praveen Kumar struck in the third over to have Kieswetter caught behind to an away moving delivery. The hard-hitting Kieswetter sent as opener to go after the new ball in the huge chase disappointed his side.

Pietersen failed again in an attempt to step up the run-rate. A direct throw by Ashwin found him short of the crease and reduced England to 40 for two in 10th over.

Cook and Trott tried to rebuild the innings after England lost two early wickets. The two kept rotating the strike.

In an attempt to give momentum to the score, Cook tried to hit Jadeja over the boundary but was held at the deep midwicket by Vinay Kumar.

Cook’s fall led to a dramatic collapse with the visitors losing four more wickets for an addition of 23 runs in a span of seven overs.

Trott (26) was the first to depart after Cook returned to the pavilion. He misjudged a shot to be bowled by Jadeja.

Ravi Bopara, fresh from a good series at home, was expected to bail out England but failed miserably as he was caught in the very next over by Ashwin off his own bowling.

Jonny Bairstow, who had scored an impressive unbeaten ton against Hyderabad XI in a warm-up match, became the second victim of Jadeja. England had lost four wickets in five overs.

Ashwin added to the English team’s misery by having Tim Bresnan stumped to reduce England to 134 for seven in 30th over. With Bresnan’s departure, the visitors had lost all hopes.

Swann also did not last long as a beauty from Umesh Yadav uprooted the stumps. Samit Patel (16) did not resist for long.

Earlier, a captain’s knock by Dhoni helped India set an imposing target of 301 before England.

Giving the right start to what has been billed as the revenge series, Dhoni led from the front to hit an aggressive unbeaten 87 off 70 balls and helped India reach the 300-mark after they were struggling at 123 for four in 29 overs.

Playing the first match at home after their World Cup victory, the Indian batsmen came good against the visitors, who had a tough time in the field despite inflicting some early blows.

Dhoni, assisted by Suresh Raina (61) and Jadeja (27), steered the team to score 177 runs in the last 21 overs. The captain’s innings included 10 fours and a six.

Raina, who was struggling with form, found the touch with a quickfire 61 off 55 balls. He along with Dhoni added 72 runs for the fifth wicket after India found themselves in a spot of bother.

After Raina was held by Jonny Bairstow off Steve Finn in the 39th over, Dhoni was joined by Jadeja to keep up the momentum. The two added 65 for the sixth wicket.

Jadeja provided some entertainment to the crowd by hitting two huge sixes on two successive deliveries off spinner Patel in 43rd over, before he was run out.

There were useful contributions by Gautam Gambhir (32) and Virat Kohli (27 off), who tried to build the innings after early setbacks.

Making a comeback after an injury, Gambhir, who batted at number three, was in full flow on his birthday. He, however, did not last long and was trapped leg before off a full toss from Jade Dernbach.

Earlier, Graeme Swann struck in his first over when he had Ajinkya Rahane (15) stumped by Craig Kieswetter. Rahane was clearly short of confidence, throwing his wicket away after consuming 41 deliveries.

Some sloppy fielding by England also helped the home side. Trott dropped Rahane off Finn in the second over while Pietersen faltered at the boundary on more than one occasion.

The Indian innings began on a disastrous note as Parthiv Patel (9) was run out after Rahane’s shot back to the bowler hit the stumps.

It was the first one-day international to be played under the new rules of International Cricket Council (ICC), which bar power plays after 40th over, ban runners and give two new balls per innings.