Gill enjoys more Edgbaston success as India beat England

India captain Shubman Gill continued his Edgbaston love-affair as his side beat England by six wickets in the first one-day international on Tuesday.

Set 259 to win, India cruised home with 28 balls to spare to go 1-0 up in a three-match series.

It was their first triumph of a tour where they had suffered 2-0 and 4-0 T20 series losses to Ireland and England respectively.

Gill top-scored with 80, from just 75 balls, before limping off with what appeared to be cramp. A team spokesman told AFP after stumps that Gill was expected to be fit for Thursday’s second ODI in Cardiff.

It was at Edgbaston last year that Gill, also India’s red-ball skipper, became the first batsman to make a double century in one innings of a Test match and a score of 150 in the other.

But for his retirement, the 26-year-old might have had another hundred at Warwickshire’s headquarters.

Gill and T20 captain Shreyas Iyer shared a century partnership after India lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in quick succession to be 48-2.

England did reduce India to 160-4 after Gill retired.

But Washington Sundar (52 not out) and Axar Patel (57 not out) put the result beyond doubt with a blizzard of boundaries in an unbroken stand of 102.

Patel, who had previously taken four wickets in England’s 258 all out, completed a fine fifty when he slog-swept off-spinner Will Jacks for a fifth four in 39 balls faced.

Sundar ended the game in style, with a straight six off leg-spinner Adil Rashid that saw him to his fifty.

– Kohli fails –

The massed ranks of India spectators at Edgbaston cheering those half-centuries had fallen silent when star batsman Kohli was plumb lbw to fast bowler Jofra Archer for just five.

Kohli has already retired from both Test and T20 cricket and this series could be the last the 37-year-old plays for India in England.

England came into this match after a series whitewash of T20 world champions India that took them to No. 1 in the T20 rankings.

But England are currently eighth in the ODI standings and in danger of not qualifying for next year’s 50-over World Cup in southern Africa.

Earlier, India took five wickets for 19 runs as England collapsed from 61-0 to 80-5.

And England were still struggling at 107-6 before Joe Root — dropped on seven — with a run-a-ball 76 not out and Liam Dawson, whose 68 was his highest ODI score, shared  a seventh-wicket partnership of 121.

But after India’s fast bowlers, including the returning Jasprit Bumrah, did the initial damage, England were all out with 13 balls of their innings remaining after left-arm spinner Patel followed up with 4-62.

Gurnoor Brar sparked England’s collapse when Jacob Bethell holed out to deep square-leg.

Two balls later, fellow left-handed opener Ben Duckett (43) also fell to Brar when a slash to deep third man was caught by Bumrah, stepping back in over the boundary.

Bumrah, rested from the recent T20 reverses to help manage his workload, finished with a typically miserly 1-31 in nine overs, the fast bowler having England captain Harry Brook, who won the toss, caught at slip for just one.

Jos Buttler fresh from a blistering century in the T20 series finale at Southampton, managed only five in his 200th ODI when he skyed Prasidh Krishna and Brar clung on despite colliding with Gill as the pair converged on the ball.

And England were 107-6 when Jacks was brilliantly caught one-handed by diving wicket-keeper KL Rahul off Shivam Dube.