Virat Kohli
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England’s weakness against spin were ruthless exposed once more as Kuldeep Yadav tore through their lineup before Rohit Sharma’s blistering century took India to a thumping eight-wicket win in the first ODI.

Chasing 269 on a belter of a pitch, India got off to a good start. Shikhar Dhawan looked in his elements as he hit a flurry of boundaries to set the tone for the chase. He added 59 runs for the first wicket with Rohit Sharma before falling to Moeen Ali for 40.

The dismissal, however, did not allow England to claw their way back in the game as Rohit and Virat Kohli batted them out of the game. The duo added 167 runs for the second wicket to all but seal the hosts’ fate. Adil Rashid broke the stand by having Kohli stumped for 75. Prior to that, Rohit completed his century off just 82 balls.

Rohit and KL Rahul then shared an unbeaten stand of runs to take India home with utmost ease in the 41st over. Rohit remained unbeaten on 137 while Rahul was unbeaten on 9.

Earlier in the game, Kuldeep Yadav’s career-best ODI figures of 6 for 25 helped India skittle out England for a modest 268.
Virat Kohli’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss seemed to have backfired initially. Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy added 73 runs for the first wicket – to give the hosts a flying start.

However, the game turned on its head when Kuldeep came on to bowl. With England racing away to 71 for no loss after ten overs, Virat Kohli introduced Kuldeep in the attack and the move paid off.

On the second ball of his very first over, he sent back Roy to give India the much-needed breakthrough. The opener departed after scoring 38 including six fours. In his next over, Kuldeep firmly put India on top by sending back both Bairstow and Joe Root to leave England reeling at 82 for 3.

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Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes then took the score past the 100-run mark. However, the duo could not bail their team out of trouble as Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Morgan to reduce England to 105 for 4.

Stokes and Jos Buttler then began the rescue work. The duo added 93 runs for the fifth wicket but the runs did not come at a rate the hosts would have liked. Kuldeep once again proved to be a thorn in the flesh as he broke the stand by dismissing Buttler. And along with it, he also ended England’s slim chances of posting a challenging total.  Buttler departed after scoring 53 off 51.

Stokes was the next to fall soon after he completed his fifty off 102 balls. Kuldeep dismissed the allrounder to complete another five-wicket haul on the tour. The left-arm spinner was not done yet as he dismissed David Willey to finish his spell with stunning figures of 6 for 25. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid then played handy knocks towards the end to help England put up a challenging total before they were all out.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the innings:

 

https://twitter.com/HitmanCricket/status/1017443537888014342

 

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