Kohli, Jadhav power India to thrilling win

Pune: Skipper Virat Kohli smashed a majestic 122 while Kedar Jadhav conjured up a career-best 120 before India's lower middle-order held nerves to pull off an incredible three-wicket victory over England in the first One-day International here on Sunday.

Kohli and Jadhav rattled up a sensational 200-run partnership for the fifth wicket to set up the platform after England set the hosts a stiff 351-run target.

India were in a spot of bother after losing four wickets for just 63 runs but Kohli and Jadhav scripted a comeback with their gritty batting as Mahendra Singh Dhoni (6) and Yuvraj Singh (15) could not contribute much in the chase.

India required 60 runs from the last 10 overs after the fall of both Kohli and Jadhav but Hardik Pandya ensured that their good work does not go waste with his responsible unbeaten 40-run innings.

Pandya saw Ravindra Jadeja losing his wicket in the 45th over but the young all-rounder kept his cool to steer India to the finish line. He hit a six off Adil Rashid to level the scores and Ravichandran Ashwin finished it in style, hammering Moeen Ali into the stands to steer India to victory with 11 balls to spare. India have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the next match scheduled in Cuttack on January 19.

It was a new chapter for India with Kohli leading the side after being declared leader of the team in all three formats but the hosts had forgettable first half as they conceded 350 runs and lost quick wickets. KL Rahul (8), Shikhar Dhawan (1) and comeback-man Yuvraj were back in the pavillion and soon Dhoni joined them to leave India reeling at 63 for four.

Kohli and Jadhav not only restructured the innings, they put India within the touching distance of win. Kohli's 122 came off just 105 balls with eight shots the fence and five over the ropes. It was Indian captain's 27th ODI hundred. Jadhav, who was cramping heavily in the later part of his innings, completed his hundred in 65 balls, which was fifth fastest hundred by an Indian. Overall he took 76 balls for 120 which had 12 fours and four sixes.

India lost Ravindra Jadeja in the 45th over but there was no more drama with Pandya staying till the end. Earlier, England bowlers feasted on a listless Indian bowling piling up their highest score of 350 for seven after they were put into bat. No. 3 Joe Root and opener Jason Roy struck form early before Ben Stokes too blitzed his way to a half-century to steer England to a record score for the rejuvenated visiting team.

However, India's number one bowler Ravichandran Ashwin struggled with the ball and was hit for 63 runs in eight overs without a wicket to his name. Speedster Umesh Yadav was slammed for 63 runs runs in seven overs for a lone wicket late in the innings.

Put in to bat by Virat Kohli, starting a new chapter as the one-day skipper, England paced their innings well with Roy being the early aggressor with a 61-ball 73, inclusive of 12 fours, that was built upon by Root, who stroked his way to 78 in 95 balls.

Captain Eoin Morgan (28) and Jos Buttler (31) got the starts without converting them into a bigger score at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje. Later, the left-handed Stokes used his bat like a sledgehammer to smack five sixes and two fours on his way to 62 off just 40 balls after reaching 50 in 33 balls, as England posted their highest score in ODIs in India.

The score bettered the 338 for eight made by England in the tied encounter of the 2011 World Cup against India at Bengaluru. The last 10 overs of the innings brought England 115 runs, including 65 in the final five to leave India with a stift task of scoring at more than seven runs per over for victory.

For India, Hardik Pandya (2 for 46) and Jasprit Bumrah who was taken for 79 runs finished with two wickets each. The most impressive bowler was left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who not only applied the skids on England early on but also emerged with economic figures of one for 50.England began on a brisk note with openers Roy and Alex Hales looking to get on the attack right from the start.

The Decision Review System (DRS), being used in a 50-over bilateral series in India, was called upon as early as the third over of the game when Roy was given out leg before wicket off Yadav but he got a reprieve through technology. The in-form aggressive opener thrived on the early escape as he drove the medium pacers when they over-pitched.