IND V ENG 1st ODI: Roy, Root power England to record first innings total

New Delhi: A superb knock by opener Jason Roy and supporting knock innings from Joe Root powered England to their highest ever ODI total against India as the visitors posted a mammoth 350/7 in the series opener at Pune.  Winning the toss, Virat Kohli decided to send the opposition in on a pitch which had fair bit of pace and bounce in the initial stages. The Indian new ball bowlers Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya however, failed to capitalize on the offerings and England got off to a flying start. A Bumrah direct hit from nowhere gave India their first wicket as Hales was out for 9 off 18. Though, that didn’t stem the flow of runs as Jason Roy kept on peppering the boundary. He was equally comfortable of both front and back foot. Just when he was looking to take the game away from India, he ran passed one Jadeja delivery, only to be stumped by MS Dhoni for a well made 73 off 61. Joe Root then took upon himself to guide the innings on his way to well crafted 78 off 91. 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 set up a new high total against the hosts 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 to score at an asking rate of 7.02 to win the game and go 1-0 up in the three-match rubber. 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 1 for 50. Jadeja's Test spin twin Ravichandran Ashwin was unimpressive and gave away 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. Virat Kohli and CO. have  a job on their hands as it would need a stellar performance from a strong Indian batting line up to overall this record English total.