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England 325 for 4 (Bell 85, Cook 75) beat India 316 for 9 (Yuvraj 51, Gambir 52, Tredwell 4-44) by nine runs
India had never chased more than 325 to win a one-day international on home soil and, if the old India might have regarded England as ripe for the taking, this present side lacks the same formidable presence. They came close, but when Ishant Sharma was left to hit Jade Dernbach's last two balls for six to tie the match, they probably knew in their hearts that the game was up.
England had lost their last 13 ODIs in India and had won only one match on their last three ODI tours of India. Two defeats in their warm-up matches did not auger well, but they served up a victory for their new limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, at the first time of asking and will now face the rest of the five-match series with greater belief.
The first international at the Saurashtra Stadium lavished favours upon the batsmen. The pitch was amenable and the outfield glassy but James Tredwell, with international-best figures of 4-44, saw England home. An understudy to Graeme Swann in England's ODI side, he has a chance to assert himself with Swann resting out of the series, although "assert himself" is probably the wrong phrase because he is a mild-mannered unassuming chap, very much the introvert to Swann's extrovert.
India had never chased more than 325 to win a one-day international on home soil and, if the old India might have regarded England as ripe for the taking, this present side lacks the same formidable presence. They came close, but when Ishant Sharma was left to hit Jade Dernbach's last two balls for six to tie the match, they probably knew in their hearts that the game was up.
England had lost their last 13 ODIs in India and had won only one match on their last three ODI tours of India. Two defeats in their warm-up matches did not auger well, but they served up a victory for their new limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, at the first time of asking and will now face the rest of the five-match series with greater belief.
The first international at the Saurashtra Stadium lavished favours upon the batsmen. The pitch was amenable and the outfield glassy but James Tredwell, with international-best figures of 4-44, saw England home. An understudy to Graeme Swann in England's ODI side, he has a chance to assert himself with Swann resting out of the series, although "assert himself" is probably the wrong phrase because he is a mild-mannered unassuming chap, very much the introvert to Swann's extrovert.