England’s current tour of India is turning out to be a story of missed chances as Jos Buttler’s team once again failed to exploit the slight edge they got both with the bat and ball to end up on the losing side in the first ODI against India at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday. England had similarly failed to come on top of the situation in the preceding T20I series and lost it 4-1 after winning the third match to reduce the margin. In the first ODI on Thursday, England made a good start by reaching 70-odd runs without loss in the power-play before they made a hash of things and lost wickets in a cluster to be bowled out for 248.
They then has another opportunity to take control of the situation after reducing India to 19/2, getting out Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal cheaply.
But Shubman Gill (87) and Shreyas Iyer (59) added 94 runs for the third wicket to take back the initiative. Gill and Axer Patel then propelled India towards victory.
England captain Jos Butler expressed disappointment as his team failed to exploit the situation once again after getting two opportunities.
“Disappointed not to win the game. Thought we got off to a fantastic start in the powerplay. The openers got off to a great start but to lose four wickets was frustrating. Extra 40-50 runs would have been crucial,” said Buttler during the presentation ceremony after the match.
England lost wickets in a cluster after a good start provided by Phil Salt (43) and Ben Duckett (32). “That is not how we want to play. We want to put the opposition under pressure and keep the momentum,” said Buttler.
Buttler agreed that it was becoming a bit predictable for England about how things were going in this series as far as fast bowling was concerned.
“Guys started well, they were 20 for 2. At that point, the game’s in the balance, if we could have found a way to take a wicket there, but Gill and Iyer put on a good partnership.
“We want to play better really for longer, we have shown in stages that we are doing the right thing. When we have the momentum, we want to try and extend that longer,” said Buttler.
The England captain would be hoping that things will turn in favour of his team in the second ODI at Cuttack and make the series more interesting.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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