Pune, Mar 23 (Agency) England suffered a dramatic collapse in the opening ODI on Tuesday (March 23) to go 1-0 down in the three-match series. Chasing 318, England were cruising at one stage after their openers added 135 for the first wicket but the hosts fought back hard after their seamers made crucial incisions in the chase. Prasidh Krishna became the first Indian bowler to pick up four wickets on debut and he was well supported by Shardul Thakur, who chipped in with three crucial strikes. Victory at one stage appeared to be there for the taking for England when they smashed 89 in the powerplay under lights. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled an economical spell with the new ball but Prasidh was carted around by Jonny Bairstow. The England opener hit Prasidh for 22 runs in his third over to kickstart an onslaught that appeared to be a never-ending one.
Bairstow didn’t let Kuldeep to settle down and went on to reach his half-century off just 40 deliveries and Krunal had more punishment headed his way with the England opener going berserk. With shoulders dropping, India were given a ray of hope by the returning Prasidh, who managed to surprise Roy with the extra bounce on offer as the batsman got himself into an awkward position while attempting a pull. The mistimed shot went straight to Suryakumar Yadav, who juggled it before holding onto the catch. Ben Stokes, promoted to No. 3 in the absence of Joe Root, had a torrid start to his innings and the pressure got to him as he hit one straight to cover. India could have had Eoin Morgan out for a first ball duck when he edged one to Kohli at slip but the Indian skipper grassed the opportunity after appearing to hold on to it.
The hosts had 97 runs on the board after 23 overs despite losing only one wicket and that prompted both the well-set batsmen to open up. Dhawan first hit a six off a slog sweep to bring up his fifty and Kohli at the other end managed to hit three boundaries in three overs. Dhawan also received a reprieve when Moeen Ali grassed an opportunity near the boundary and he made them pay for it. The two batsmen were involved in a century stand as India were strongly placed at 164/1 after 31 overs.
Brief scores: India 317/5 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 98, KL Rahul 62, Krunal Pandya 58; Ben Stokes 3-34) lost to England 251 in 42.1 overs (Jonny Bairstow 94, Jason Roy 46; Prasidh Krishna 4-54, Shardul Thakur 3-37) by 66 runs