England lose to India by four wickets in first ODI after batting slump in Nagpur | Cricket News

First ODI (Nagpur): February 6 &#8211; India won by four wickets 🔵
Second ODI (Cuttack): Sunday February 9 (8am) 🕗
Third ODI (Ahmedabad): Wednesday February 12 (8am) 🕗

February 6, 2025 admin

England suffered a second comprehensive defeat to India in five days as a batting slump led to Jos Buttler’s side losing the first one-day international by four wickets in Nagpur.

The tourists were routed by 150 runs in the final T20 in Mumbai on Sunday, rolled for 97 in just 10.3 overs chasing a huge 248.

England made 248 all out on Thursday in a different format but would have hoped for so much more after Phil Salt (43 off 26) and Ben Duckett (32 off 29) powered them to 75-0 inside nine overs, a stand that included Salt thrashing 26 off one Harshit Rana over.

The away side then lost three wickets for two runs in eight balls, beginning with Salt being comically run out after a mix-up with Duckett, while Buttler’s dismissal for 52 from 67 balls triggered another malaise from 170-4 as only he and Jacob Bethell (51 off 64) carded half-centuries.

In reply, Shubman Gill (87), Shreyas Iyer (59 off 36) and Axar Patel (52 off 47) impressed as an India batting line-up deprived of Virat Kohli (knee) reached their target with 68 balls to spare after a late wobble to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series ahead of further games in Cuttack on Sunday and Ahmedabad next Wednesday.

India shipped three wickets for 14 runs towards the end of the game – including Gill and Axar after a fourth-wicket alliance of 108 – to slip to 235-6 but Hardik Pandya (9no) and Ravindra Jadeja (12no) guided the hosts over the line in 38.4 overs.

England offered up too many freebies with the ball on a good batting surface and were predictably short at times, something they will need to fix not only for this series but the ICC Champions Trophy that follows from February 19 to March 9, live on Sky Sports.