Pune: Debutants Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna made the big stage their own to give India an everyday 66-run victory over world champions England in India’s first one – day match here.
After Shikhar Dhawan, the starting button under fire, delivered with a solid 98, Krunal (58 not out of 31) struck the fastest fifty by a debutant to dismiss India to 317 for five after England’s decision to play.
At 135 for no loss in the 15th over, with Jason Roy (46 of 35) and Jonny Bairstow (94 of 55) strong, England apparently ran away with the chase ahead of Krishna (4/54) and Shardul Thakur (3 ) / 37) shared seven wickets between them to bring about a winning return. The 25-year-old Krishna’s figures were the best by an Indian debutant as England’s innings ended at 251 in 42.1 overs.
Given the nature of the surface, it was a commendable effort by the Indian bowlers, who continued from the T20 series to easily defend marketable targets. Krishna, who leaked 37 runs in his first three overs, came back strong and bothered the batsmen with his ability to generate extra bounce. Thakur again made the breakthroughs when the team needed them, and senior pro Bhuvneshwar Kumar also tipped a few wickets towards the end. England had the game in the bag, but were guilty of throwing it away, and failed to build on the flying from a start that Bairstow and Roy gave.
Earlier, Dhawan and Virat Kohli (56 of 60) shared 105 runs around the second wicket before Krunal (58 not with 31) and KL Rahul (62 not with 43) sent England on a learning chase with their unbeaten stand of 112 lopies. 57 balls taken to take the team past 300. Dhawan hammered 11 fours and two sixes in his 106 ball, while Krunal plundered seven fours and two maximums in his entertaining innings.
Scorecard
In the: R Sharma c Buttler b Stokes 28 (42b, 4 × 4), S Dhawan c Morgan b Stokes 98 (106b, 11 × 4, 2 × 6), V Kohli c Ali b Wood 56 (60b, 6 × 4), S Iyer c sub (Livingstone) bt Wood 6 (9b), KL Rahul (not out) 62 (43b, 4 × 4, 4 × 6), H Pandya c Bairstow b Stokes 1 (9b), K Pandya (not out ) 58 (31b, 7 × 4, 2 × 6), Extras (lb3, w5) 8, total (for 5 weeks in 50 overs) 317; Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-169, 3-187, 4-197, 5-205; Bowling: Wood 10-1-75-2, S Curran 10-1-48-0, T Curran 10-0-63-0, Stokes 8-1-34-3, Rashid 9-0-66-0, Moeen Ali 3-0-28-0
England: J Roy c sub (SA Yadav) b Krishna 46 (35b, 7 × 4, 1 × 6), J Bairstow c K Yadav b Thakur 94 (66b, 6 × 4, 7 × 6), B Stokes c sub (Gill) b Krishna 1 (11b), E Morgan c Rahul b Thakur 22 (30b, 1 × 4, 1 × 6), J Buttler lbw Thakur 2 (4b), S Billings c Kohli b Krishna 18 (22b, 1 × 4), Moeen Ali c Rahul b Kumar 30 (37b, 2 × 4, 1 × 6), S Curran c sub (Gill) b K Pandya 12 (20b 1 × 4), T Curran c Kumar b Krishna 11 (16b, 1 × 4 ), A Rashid c Rahul b Kumar 0 (5b), M Wood (not out) 2 (7b), Extras (lb3, w10) 13, Total (in 42.1 overs) 251; Fall of wickets: 1-135, 2-137, 3-169, 4-175, 5-176, 6-217, 7-237, 8-239, 9-241; Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9-0-30-2, Prasidh Krishna 8.1-1-54-4, Shardul Thakur 6-0-37-3, Krunal Pandya 10-0-59-1, Kuldeep Yadav 6-0-42- 0
Source: Telangana Today