By IANS
Southampton : Maiden centuries from Ian Bell and Alastair Cook helped England defeat a completely listless India by a whopping 104 runs in the first One-day International here Tuesday and take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match series.
Bell (126 not out, 118 balls, 10x4s, 1×6) and Cook (102, 126 balls, 8x4s) propelled England to 288 for two wickets in 50 overs after India captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and a bit surprisingly opted to bowl in the day-night encounter.
In reply, India, needing to score 289 at a rate of 5.78 runs per over, were all out for 184 in 50 overs. Dravid was the top scorer with 46 (72 balls, 2x4s, 1×6) while Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 44 (45 balls, 4x4s). Pacer James Anderson was the top wicket taker with four scalps.
“We were out batted by England,” Dravid admitted after the match.
He also defended his decision to bowl first after winning the toss at the picturesque Rose Bowl, Southampton. “There were clouds, there was rain in the air… But credit goes to Bell and Cook for the way they batted.”
England captain Paul Collingwood preferred to remain cautious after the win. “Let’s not get carried away; six games left,” he said.
The second match will be played in Bristol Friday.
It was a day when nothing went right for India, who fielded almost the same team that had beaten England 1-0 in the recent three-match Test series with some fantastic batting and bowling performances.
The famed Indian batting line-up failed miserably. The big trio, comprising Sachin Tendulkar (17), Sourav Ganguly (2) and Dravid (46), managed a grand total of 65 runs among them and there were no meaningful partnerships.
After Dravid invited England to bat first, wicket-keeper Matt Prior (19) and Cook gave a decent start of 43 in 11 overs.
But after pacer Zaheer Khan had Prior caught by Dravid off a miscued shot, Cook and Bell completely dominated the proceedings and put on 178 runs in 30.5 overs at a rate of 5.77 runs per overs. These numbers indicate how one-sided the contest between these two batsmen and the Indian bowlers was.
By the time left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh castled Cook the damage had been done.
With only eight overs left, the Indians would not have anticipated that Bell and Kevin Pieterson (33 not out, 25 balls, 3x4s) would unleash more telling sledgehammer blows. They added 67 for an unbeaten third wicket partnership at an amazing rate of 8.04 runs.
The asking rate of almost six runs seems to have put a lot of pressure even on the seasoned campaigners. And it all started from the opening pair of Ganguly and Tendulkar.
Ganguly unnecessarily tried to take a non-existent run when Tendulkar was not even looking at him and the left-hander paid a heavy price as Monty Panesar ran him out. India: 15 for one.
Gautam Gambhir, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, who failed to open his account, departed quickly to leave India tottering at 34 for four.
Dravid and Dhoni tried to resurrect the innings with their 68-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Dhoni was even reprieved once when he was caught off a no ball. But the ‘life’ did not help a great deal as he was soon caught behind trying to play a hook shot.
India effectively lost the match with Dhoni’s dismissal. Although Karthik and Zaheer were involved in a ninth wicket stand of 38 runs, scored at a rate of six per over, it came too late to change the course of the match.
Anderson was the pick of the English bowlers. He finished with four wickets for 23 runs in 10 overs.
Andrew Flintoff, who returned to international cricket after an injury-induced layoff, bowled accurately and conceded just 12 in seven overs and also accounted for Dhoni. He, however, did not get a chance to bat.
SCOREBOARD
1st One-day International (day/night), India vs. England, Rose Bowl, Southampton
England:
Alastair Cook b R.P. Singh 102
Matt Prior c Dravid b Khan 19
Ian Bell not out 126
Kevin Pietersen not out 33
Extras: (leg byes 4, wides 4) 8
Total: (for 2 wickets in 50 overs) 288
Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Prior, 10.5 overs), 2-221 (Cook, 41.4)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 10 1 49 1 (1w)
Ajit Agarkar 10 1 65 0
Rudra Pratap Singh 10 0 49 1 (1w)
Sourav Ganguly 4 0 21 0
Piyush Chawla 7 0 42 0
Sachin Tendulkar 4 0 29 0 (1w)
Yuvraj Singh 5 0 29 0
India:
Sachin Tendulkar c Bopara b Anderson 17
Sourav Ganguly run out (Panesar/Prior) 2
Gautam Gambhir c Prior b Anderson 3
Rahul Dravid c Prior b Mascarenhas 46
Yuvraj Singh c Cook b Anderson 0
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Prior b Flintoff 19
Dinesh Karthik not out 44
Ajit Agarkar run out (Collingwood/Prior) 11
Piyush Chawla run out (Mascarenhas/Panesar) 2
Zaheer Khan b Anderson 20
Rudra Pratap Singh b Panesar 0
Extras: (lb 10, w 5, nb 5) 20
Total: (all out in 50 overs) 184
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Ganguly, 2.3 overs), 2-19 (Gambhir, 5.6), 3-34 (Tendulkar, 11.1), 4-34 (Yuvraj, 11.5), 5-102 (Dhoni, 30.3), 6-105 (Dravid, 31.4), 7-129 (Agarkar, 38.5), 8-145 (Chawla, 42.1), 9-183 (Khan, 48.3)
Bowling:
Stuart Broad 8 1 27 0 (1w)
James Anderson 10 2 23 4 (2w)
Andrew Flintoff 7 0 12 1 (5nb)
Dimitri Mascarenhas 10 1 28 1 (1w)
Monty Panesar 10 0 47 1
Paul Collingwood 5 0 37 0 (1w)
Result: England won by 104 runs
Man of the Match: Ian Bell (England)
Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (England)
Referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)