Nagpur, Feb 6: Shubman Gill missed a well-deserved century but shared big partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (59) and Axar Patel (52) as India survived a flurry of late wickets to beat England by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium here on Thursday.

Chasing 249 for victory after Ravindra Jadeja (3-26) and debutant Harshit Rana (3-53) helped the hosts bundle out England for a modest total and playing without the talismanic Virat Kohli, Gill, Iyer and Axar each struck fifties as India reached 251/6 off 38.4 overs to win with 68 balls to spare.

Gill was out for 87 as he shared a 94-run partnership for third wicket with Iyer and a 108-run stand for fourth with Axar as India raced to a comprehensive win after Buttler had won the toss and elected to bat first..

India were off to a poor start as skipper Rohit Sharma (2) and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal were out with 15 runs on the board. Rohit stayed for seven balls as he spooned a catch to mid-off, mistiming an inswinger from Saqib Mahmood to Liam Livingstone. Jaiswal's first ODI knock fetched 15 runs off 22 balls and was included three fours before he edged behind and away-moving from Jofra Archer pitched on off-stump.

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, who played a counter-punching knock, took India to safety and past the 100-run mark, sharing a vital partnership of 94 runs with Iyer racing to his fifty off 30 balls, hitting four fours and two sixes.

The Mumbai batter struck a four off the third ball he faced from Mahmood and blasted back-to-back sixes off Archer in the seventh over, jumping back and hammering high over midwicket and following it up by ramping a short one outside off over third-man.

As he grew in confidence, Iyer played more beautiful shots, blasting three fours off Brydon Carse in one over and creaming two boundaries in three balls in the 14th over off Jacob Bethell, paddle sweeping the fourth delivery to short fine to complete his fifty and a ball later, dabbling one through third for his ninth four of the day.

Bethell had the last laugh as Iyer was eventually out for 59 off 36 balls (9x4, 2x6), trapped in front as he attempted a sweep and missed it completely. He reviewed it but could not overturn the decision as DRS showed three reds on ball-tracking.

Shubman Gill continued his vigil at the other end and completed his 14th ODI fifty off 60 balls, hitting seven fours. He struck Archer for two fours in one over and also had boundaries off Adil Rashid, Carse and Liam Livingstone as he played some elegant shots, using his wrists and timing well as he spent time at the wicket. He also got an 'out' decision on DRS as he had edged it into his pads off Livingstone. He blasted Archer for three more boundaries, two of them -- a short-arm jab and a sweetly-timed slash past backward point being his best shots of the evening.

He found a willing partner in Axar Patel, who was asked to bat higher in the order at No.5 to keep the left-right combination going, as they propelled India towards the 200-run mark, reaching the fifty off their partnership in 51 balls, Axar helped himself to a couple of fours off Carse and Gill struck the spinner to back-to-back boundaries in the 29th over as India raced towards the victory target.

With batting becoming easier as the bowlers struggled with the dew making the ball wet, Axar reached his third fifty and first in India off 46 balls, hitting six boundaries and one six. Gill continued to flourish as he marched into the 80s as the duo completed 100 of their fourth wicket partnership in 98 balls, keeping England at bay with some sensible batting interspersed by sweetly-timed shots.

Adil Rashid castled Axar with a big turning, slow leg-spinner from round the wicket that pitched outside off for the lefty and went through the gate to dislodge the bails. Axar was out for 52 but by that time India were in sight of victory at 221 for four, needing 28 off 97 balls.

With Gill looking for his hundred, India lost two quick wickets from 221/4 to slump to 235/6, as KL Rahul (2) and Gill departed. Gill was caught nicely by Buttler off Saqib Mahmood while trying to reach the three-figure mark. But Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja made sure in the end that hosts India reach the target under 38.2 overs to beat England by four wickets with 68 balls remaining.

Brief scores: England 248 all out in 47.4 overs (Jos Buttler 52, Jacob Bethell 51; Ravindra Jadeja 3-26, Harshit Rana 3-53) lost to India 251/6 in 38.4 overs (Shubman Gill 87, Shreyas Iyer 59, Axar Patel 52; Saqib Mahmood 2-47, Adil Rashid 2-49) by four wickets

--IANS

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