Twitter Reactions: Bengaluru Express Prasidh Krishna derails England's top and middle-order as India bags a commendable win

India, on Tuesday, beat England by 66 runs in the first ODI at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium, Pune to take the lead in the three-match series. Asked to bat first, the home side piled up a big total of 317 for 5 in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, England started on a strong note before losing their way and were eventually all out for 251 in the 43rd over.

Jason Roy (94) and Jonny Bairstow came out all guns blazing with the bat as England raced away to 89 without loss after ten overs. Bairstow was the aggressor during the stand as he wreaked havoc on the bowlers. He and Roy shared a 135-run stand in just 87 deliveries before debutant Prasidh Krishna dismissed the latter for 46 to give India the much-needed wicket.

India made the most of the breakthrough and took five wickets in quick succession to leave the visitors reeling at 176 for 5. After dismissing Roy, Krishna dismissed Ben Stokes before Shardul Thakur dismissed Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler in quick succession to put India on top. Sam Billings and Moeen Ali stopped the rot with a 41-run stand before the former’s dismissal once again derailed England’s chase.

England’s tail could not delay the inevitable for long as the visitors lost their last five wickets for just 34 runs. For India, Krishna was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 wickets while Thakur picked three wickets.

Fireworks from Krunal and Rahul guide India to 300-plus:

Earlier in the game, debutant Krunal Pandya and KL Rahul scored quickfire fifties to help India recover from a precarious position and post a challenging total of 317 for 5 in the allotted 50 overs. Apart from the two, Shikhar Dhawan (98) and Virat Kohli (56) scored fifties too. Dhawan and Rohit Sharma started cautiously after Eoin Morgan asked India to bat. The hosts could only score 39 runs in the first ten overs but did not lose any wicket.

Rohit and Dhawan added 64 runs for the first wicket before the former departed for 28. It was followed by a 105-run stand between Dhawan and Kohli. Mark Wood broke the stand when he dismissed Kohli to reduce India to 169 for 2. Kohli’s dismissal triggered a mini-collapse for the hosts as they lost three wickets in quick succession to find themselves 5 down for 205.

But before England could make more inroads, Krunal and Rahul steadied the ship and took their bowlers to the cleaners. They shared an unbeaten stand of 112 runs off just 57 deliveries to take the score to 317. Krunal reached his fifty off just 26 deliveries and remained unbeaten on 58 while Rahul reached his fifty off 39 balls and remained unbeaten on 62.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match: