Sharma, Yadav lead way as India thrashes England in opener

NOTTINGHAM: Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav inspired India to a crushing eightwicket win over England in the first oneday international at Trent Bridge yesterday.

Vicecaptain Sharma hit a wonderful 137 not out after Yadav did the damage with the ball with six wickets, helping India win with 10 overs to spare.

Jos Buttler topscored for Eng land with 53 but it failed to deal with Yadav ‘s spin before toiling in the field.

He claimed six for 25 from 10 overs — including 38 dot balls — as England was outclassed and dismissed for 268 having lost the toss and been put into bat.

Yadav was backed up by the quickhitting openers before Shikhar Dhawan was caught for 40 by Adil Rashid after horribly mistiming a slog off Moeen Ali.

But it did little to slow India down as it passed 100 with Sharma and Virat Kohli taking on England.

They both reached their halfcenturies as India cruised to 169 for one, needing 100 to win from 25 overs.

The devastating Sharma rattled off a century with a stunning six only after seeing Jason Roy drop an extremely difficult chance when the opener was on 92.

Kohli, though, was stumped by Buttler for 75 off Rashid to end the partnership at 167 but it was only a brief respite for England.

Mark Wood’s nought for 55 from six overs was costly but Eoin Morgan’s side failed to post a competitive total.

England, which had plundered a record 481 in Nottingham against Australia last month, struggled despite an opening stand of 73.

Kuldeep took control in a devastating spell, claiming three for seven from two overs with Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root all falling.

Roy (38) was caught by Umesh Yadav while Bairstow (38) and Root were trapped lbw in the 13th over.

England slipped to 82 for three and Morgan (19) walked after bringing up England’s 100, giving his wicket away after being caught at midwicket by Suresh Raina off Yuzvendra Chahal.

From then it was slow going as Ben Stokes took 103 balls to make his 50 and Buttler crept to a halfcentury as the pair rebuilt the home side’s innings. India restricted England to pinching quick runs rather than plundering boundaries.

And when Yadav returned he had Buttler caught behind for 53 thanks to MS Dhoni’s impressive reflexes.

Moeen (24) and Rashid (22) helped England to its final total during a late flurry of wickets — BPA