The 1st ODI match of the 3 matches ODI series between India and England 2021 was played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on 23 March 2021. The pitch was a high-scoring pitch with more grass. Sam Billings, Tom Curran, and Moeen Ali were included in England’s playing XI. India came out with the 6 bowlers named Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Prasidh Krishna. Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna made their ODI debut for India. England won the toss and decided to have the ball in hand first. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were sent to the crease to open and England seamer Mark Wood got the new ball in hand to open the attack.
Indian opener gave a safe and slow start and had made 39 runs without losing any wicket at the end of the first mandatory Powerplay. India lost the first wicket of Rohit Sharma at the score of 64 runs. After the dismissal, Virat Kohli came to join Shikhar Dhawan and built up a crucial partnership of 105 runs. Dhawan completed his fifty from 68 balls. Virat also completed his career’s 61st fifty in ODI from 50 balls. Virat Kohli was dismissed by Wood in the 32.1 overs then KL Rahul at the number 5 position played well and added 62 runs from 43 balls. Krunal Pandya was also awesome in his debut match and scored his first ODI fifty from just 26 balls that helped the Indian team to reach the defending total of 317 runs. Shikhar Dhawan also played a great inning of 98 runs but missed his century by 2 runs. Ben Stokes took 3 wickets and Mark Wood got 2 wickets but was a bit expensive. England needed 318 runs from 50 overs to win the first ODI between India vs England series 2021.
Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow came out to the middle to chase the target and Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the new ball in hand to open the attack. English openers started very well and had scored 100 runs without any loss on the scoreboard in 11.3 overs only. India was looking for a breakthrough and the job was completed by the debutant Prasidh Krishna. Jason Roy was sent back by Prasidh in 14.2 overs. After the dismissal of Roy, England lost some more wickets very quickly and came under pressure. Indian bowlers dominated the English batsmen and did not allow them to get back in the game. Jonny Bairstow was awesome with the bat and scored 94 runs from just 66 balls but could not get enough support from the other batsmen and the entire team was bowled out at the score of 251 runs and lost the match by 66 runs. That was a big win for the Indian team. Prasidh Krishna bowled very well in his debut match and took 5 important wickets of opposition. Shardul Thakur also got 3 wickets in the match.
India won the 1st ODI between Ind and Eng series 2021 by 66 runs and Shikhar Dhawan was named Man of the Match.