Rajkot: Chasing 326 was never going to be easy for India and Indian batsmen failed yet again as they lost the first One-day international match against England by nine runs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Friday.

Batting first, England started off well with their opening batsmen Ian Bell and captain Alastair Cook giving them a fantastic start with a record opening stand of 158 for England against India and that set the tone for a huge total.

Cook scored 75 (83 balls) and Bell scored 85 (96 balls), while Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel all chipped in with 40 plus scores. Almost every Indian bowler was taken to the task by the England batsmen with fast bowler Ashok Dinda snaring two wickets. But it was the last two overs in which the England batsmen scored 38 runs that proved dear for the hosts as they fell short of the target by just nine runs.

Though India got off to a scintillating start in months with Gautam Gambhir (52) and Ajinkya Rahane (47) adding 96 for the first-wicket, the quick fall of wickets later in the innings proved costly for the men-in-blue. Virat Kohli's failed with the bat yet again but Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina scored half-centuries to keep India in the hunt. Mahendra Singh Dhoni too hit four sixes before getting out for 32. But it was the fall of the captain’s wicket that took the match away from India’s hands.

JC Tredwell took four wickets for England and was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant bowling performance. This was England's first ODI win in India after 2006.

By Indian Sports News Network