India beat England by 66 runs: first one-day international – as it happened

Well, that’s it from me. A great win for India and England now have to do what India did in the Test and T20 series, come from behind! The match report will follow, the next game is on Friday, thanks for all the emails and tweets, have a good evening.

Kohli says it was an amazing effort from the bowlers and that’s he’s a proud man now. He says, we promote players who have intent, gives a special mention to Shikar and KL, back amongst the runs, back people to do a selfless job. Says there is a healthy competition for every slot, we have a big pool of players to chose from. Special mention to Dhawan his body language was amazing when he wasn’t playing, today made a very important contribution. I feel like these are going to be high-scoring games.

And Dhawan is the man of the match!

Eoin Morgan says England need to “upskill but losing like that is much better than losing by 10 or 20 runs. That’s the way we play. I think the game has always moved forward, technology, fitness levels, bats have moved the game forward, we need to push as much as we can, great to have the senior guys here and to reinforce that the method works for us. I thought the bowlers did an oustanding job, we were happy chasing 318.”

Nasser doesn’t think England were smart enough today. ERB says that Morgan and Billings were injured, but there was enough experience in that line up – they will be frustrated. You have to give credit to India, Kohli and his men feel they can win from any position. Dinesh Karthik says, yes this India think they can win from any situation, credit to the fast bowlers, yes some ordinary shots but the pressure they put on was brilliant. There are quite a few intense characters, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar can’t take a loss very well, Kohli leads with the bat and his body language.

A topsy-turvy game for England. We’re so used to them going big and intimidating the opposition into subservience, but India, as befits their status as No.2 in the world, weren’t having it. A smashing innings by Bairstow, that shouldn’t be forgotten, hope that’s bedded a few daemons, but a failure of fire-power in the middle order.

With the bat, India were methodical, then dynamic. Grand innings from Shikhar Dhawan, from Virat Kohli, from KL Rahul and debutant Krunal Pandya.

Peter Rowntree lets a final email flutter into the box: “Sorry to disappoint Brian, but the lack of turn is purely to do with aero-dynamics in Bogota, I am a wrist spinner, and not altogether believing that turn was impossible, tired every trick I knew and had to admit defeat. The only tricks a bowler is left with is to bowl line and length, and also to vary the angle of delivery, and of course the use of slower and quicker balls. But if he wants to come out here on a tour, he will be more than welcome cheap scotch at 5 pounds a bottle, plus the local firewater (aguadiente), makes for a pleasant passing of time on our terrace – but you will need to wait until the current Covid restrictions have been lifted. Because of the Brazilian variant all of Latin America is considered high-risk by European countries.”

“Then the Lawrence Booth tweet, suggesting England carried on with their stroke play as 135-0, in theory fine, but from what I saw the injuries to Morgan and Billings restricted both of them in terms of the shots they could play, and quite surprised that they did not alter their batting line-up to reflect this. Despite the great start, scoreboard pressure started to tell, simply because neither were able to play with their normal freedom.”

India take the first of the three match series, by a chasm. Smashing debuts by Prasidh, who finished with four wickets, and Krunal Pandya who grabbed a wicket to go alongside his memorable 58.

Bhuvneshwar takes the catch from a Sam Curran skier, to end a smashing afternoon’s work, and that’s a mammoth win by India

42nd over: England 251-9 (Wood 2, T Curran 11) England need 318 to win Bhuvneshwar proves too good for England’s 10 and 11, who swing and miss.

“I enjoy the visceral spectacle of 20/20, but I have to say I prefer the longer short game,” mulls Julian Menz.

“A Pollock (not Graeme, Jackson see 20/20 cricket) is worthy of admiration, but we’ll always enjoy the post-impressionists. They pushed the borders (see 50-over cricket) without going fully abstract.

“Continuing with the art theme….Test cricket is like contemplating a Rothko while Dix is prodding you in the ribs. As much as I enjoy the shorter versions, I love test cricket.”

Could we simplify this to say T20 – felt tips; ODI – colour pencils; Test – oils?

41st over: England 248-9 (Wood 1, T Curran 9) England need 318 to win Curran T has a ping at Kuldeep and shovels him to the midwicket boundary.

David Procter writes from Cali:

“Re the comments I’ve just read about cricket in Colombia…I live in the tropical city of Cali and we’ve had a good set up for nearly 10 years now, thanks to David Muirhead who got it going again in 2011 and was involved in 2001/2002 as mentioned by Pete Rowntree, over 16. We now have annual tournaments and various meet ups every year against Bogotá (sometimes 2 clubs) and Medellín, and have received visiting teams from the USA too. It’s a predominantly expat atmosphere, but we’ve actually got a few talented, young Colombians in our group in Cali who were introduced to cricket by an ex-player from Guyana and one even represented Colombia in the South American Championships in Brazil in 2016. The hot, humid climate in Cali is very conducive to swing bowling we’ve found out!”
https://www.instagram.com/calicricketclubcolombia/
https://www.instagram.com/cricketcolombia/”

Fantasic!

40th over: England 243-9 (Wood 1, T Curran 4) England need 318 to win Bhuvneshwar now has 2 for 27 and England are down and out. Superb by India’s bowlers, who held their nerve despite England’s rollicking first 20 overs.

“Clear why England are collapsing in the middle,” says Pat. “Their middle batters eat up too many dot balls and erode the confidence of the batsman in form whose waiting!! And silly shots like Morgan’s, who had missed several head height balls before getting out to yet another one… they are much too blasé for their own good.”

To be fair to Morgan, that split webbing on his hand was probably giving him a bit of gyp.

Another wicket for the master! Rashid prods at a ball of full length and Rahul says thanks very much.

39th over: England 240-8 (Rashid 0, T Curran 2) England need 318 to win In the England dugout, arms are folded.

A chip from Curran travels not over the boundary but into the hands of Gill – the substitutes in the action today – Krunal saw his twitching feet and sensed what was coming.

38th over: England 239-7 (S Curran 12, T Curran 1) England need 318 to win Bhuvneshwar really is on top of his game, after the wicket he bowls full at the Curran brothers, who can’t get him away. The pendulum swings again.

Bootiful ball! Backspin, according to Dinesh Karthik, that flies off the shoulder of the bat and Moeen turns to watch it fall into Rahul’s gloves.

37th over: England 237-6 (Curran 11, Moeen 30) England need 318 to win Krunal to Moeen, who chops into the pitch, then an old-magic wristy on drive for four, then wristy defence.

The target now a relatively leisurely 81 from 78 balls, but mind the wickets.

36th over: England 231-6 (Curran 10, Moeen 25) England need 318 to win Smashing shot from Sam Curran off Bhuvneshwar, he pulls a waist-high bouncer to the fence.

35th over: England 226-6 (Curran 5, Moeen 25) England need 318 to win Middle over perfection from Prasidh, leaking just three runs, he now has 3-54 from eight. This really feels like the calm before the storm. Moeen biding his time – don’t forget what a popular T20 pick he is round the world (if not by England)

Brian Withington writes:“Catching up after a long call I was intrigued to read from our man in Colombia (Peter Rowntree, over 16) that the altitude in Bogota is not conducive to either swing or spin. Whilst I can well imagine a very thin atmosphere constraining the likes of Jimmy Anderson with even the shiniest red cherry, would it really also hamper the wrist spin of an Adil Rashid? Or is there something about the Bogota wickets that Peter has not yet disclosed? Future tours are in the balance here …”

34th over: England 223-6 (Curran 3, Moeen 24) England need 318 to win Krunal, huge diamond stud in his left ear, wheels his long arms and legs through a tidy over of his left-arm spin at about 60mph. Just a couple from it. Sky kindly show the run rate comparison, and England are still in front, but with two newish batsmen at the crease and not many wickets in hand.

33rd over: England 221-6 (Curran 2, Moeen 23) England need 318 to win On replay, you can see Billings’ bat twist in the air just as he plays the shot. What a shame for him, after such a long wait in the wings. Moeen plays a risky dab, picks up a couple, then substitute Gill misses what would have been a damn-cert run-out as Curran takes a risky single.

Billings drives straight into Kohli’s paws at cover and he’s not going to drop another one. Wicket pressure starting to take its toll.

32nd over: England 216-5 (Billings 18, Moeen 21) England need 318 to win Kohli turns again to Krunal, who took a bit of a pasting earlier. Moeen and Billings can’t reach the boundary, but tick over easily enough.

31st over: England 212-5 (Billings 16, Moeen 19) England need 318 to win Oh that’s gorgeous from Moeen, he falls low on one knee and pulls out a wristy, sweep for four. Kuldeep beats him next ball but he retorts with another sweep in front of square for six. England need 106 from 114 balls

30th over: England 199-5 (Billings 15, Moeen 8) England need 318 to win Krunal tickled for a few singles, as Billings and Moeen take the chance to breathe.

29th over: England 191-5 (Billings 9, Moeen 7) England need 318 to win Kuldeep, short, mop haired, long sleeves, keeps it tight until the final ball which Billings pulls square for four. The quietly fabulous Dinesh Karthik, translates some hindi on the pitch to tell us the ball is getting wet with dew.

After 30 overs India were 159 for 1.

28th over: England 187-5 (Billings 7, Moeen 5) England need 318 to win Krunal, again improving with time, just a couple from the over as the rebuilding proves steady, red brick by red brick rather than huge concrete slabs.

“Just when you thought we were coasting to victory, England are perfectly capable of pressing the self-destruct button,”writes Colum Fordham.

“Let’s just hope that Moeen finds that flash of form in the second test when he hit the Indian attack for a merry 36. Hopefully, he’ll rediscover his sapped confidence as did KL Rahul for India, and score a match-winning innings.”

I hope so too!

“Interesting to read about the history of Mexican cricket. At least the Cornish pasty seems to have caught on.”

27th over: England 185-5 (Billings 6, Moeen 4) England need 318 to win Thakur keeps his nerve and Moeen and Billings can only nurdle and nudge, Billings ducks under a helmet-skimmer.

“Hello Tanya!” “Hello Tim!” “The typo ‘Baristow’ has popped up a couple of times on today’s OBO. Is he meant to make frothy coffee, perhaps with a signature dusting of ginger, whilst simultaneously opening in ODIs, batting in the top order in Tests and T20s, whilst patrolling the cover boundary and keeping wicket ? This is gross mismanagement !

“It’s lovely to see him doing well though.”

Very good!

26th over: England 181-5 (Billings 3, Moeen 3) England need 318 to win Ooof, Moeen picks up two with an outside edge through where slip might have been. Five from Krunal’s over.

Good point from Gary Naylor. I think India are in experimenting mode though so maybe he’ll come back in the next two games.

25th over: England 176-5 (Billings 1, Moeen 0) England need 318 to win What was I saying? Quite the collapse there by England and we now have an injured Billings and rusty Moeen, who hasn’t played since the second Test in Chennai. A great chance for the spear carriers. And Thakur has 3-33 from his five overs.

The soft signal is out, Buttler reviews but it doesn’t look good … and it’s not! One zipping in and catching him on the front pad and England’s happy-g0-lucky 169-2 has become 176-5.

Morgan and his split-webbing can’t cope with a bouncer, and Morgan edges behind

24th over: England 175-3 (Morgan 22, Buttler 3) England need 318 to win Kohli brings back his trump card Bhuvneshwar and England can only nudge a pocketful of singles.

Oh dear, Robin Hazlehurst is cross with me: “’I can’t see England losing from here’. Aww bless, are you new to watching cricket? Top bit of jinxing mind, it’s gone rapidly pear-shaped since you wrote that. Fair to say I can’t see England winning from here?”

I know, I know, but I don’t judge this ODI team by usual England standards. England are still ahead of the rate….

23rd over: England 169-3 (Morgan 18, Buttler 0) England need 318 to win England faltering here but they’re still ahead of the game and they bat long, as they say. An excellent over from Thakur, just two from it and the main man gone. And a hearty backslap to Bairstow whose Test series went from bad to worse but was at his firey, fearless, best today.

Bairstow goes for the heave, trying to reach three fingers in style and it falls into the hands of Yadav at deep midwicket.. A brilliant innings 94 off just 66 balls.

22nd over: England 169-2 (Morgan 18, Bairstow 94) England need 318 to win The pitch map shows Kuldeep lacking accuracy, but he restricts England here, no boundaries, just a handfuls of singles.

21st over: England 165-2 (Morgan 15, Bairstow 93) England need 318 to win Beautiful shot from Morgan, all velvety gorgeousness through the covers off Thakur for four. And the rebuild continues.

20th over: England 157-2 (Morgan 9, Bairstow 91) England need 318 to win Kuldeep sends down a tension-lifter, wide and loose, and 12 comes from the over as Morgan helps himself to a full toss and Baristow sweeps to enter the nervous nineties.

19th over: England 144-2 (Morgan 2, Bairstow 86) England need 318 to win Sadly distracted as I’ve spilt the coffee that was being kept warm under a tea cosy. A disappointing trip hazard. This feels very much like scene 2 after a raucous opening . If the first scene needed a musical backdrop l I’d chose Phantom of the Opera with it utterly ridiculous bombastic-ity.

“Any idea why India are playing in their exact 1992 shirt? asks Ian Forth. “Or why England have adopted the 1992 shirt but without the rainbow design across the shoulders (mandated by the ICC at the time)? It feels like we’re being sent signals in the manner of code from a Russian orchestra during the war, the sort of thing Alan Turing would be all over, but I’m struggling to unravel the significance.”

18th over: England 140-2 (Morgan 1, Bairstow 83) England need 318 to win A stitched up Morgan is uncharacteristically jumpy, unable to throw the long hammer at Kuldeep Yadav. I’d have thought a stitched-up hand would hurt. A lot. But maybe I’m just a wimp.