[Watch] Rishabh Pant takes flying catch as Mohammad Shami sends back Ben Stokes for golden duck in India's 1st ODI
Rishabh Pant plucked on to a fine diving catch in India's first ODI against England at the Kennington Oval in London on Tuesday, July 12.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first after winning the toss on an overcast morning. The decision paid dividends immediately as Jasprit Bumrah got the better of Jason Roy and Joe Root in the second over. The two batters departed without troubling the scorers.
With the tails up, Mohammad Shami dismissed Ben Stokes for a golden duck in the next over to reduce the hosts to 7/3 in 2.4 overs.
With the ball moving, Shami hurried Stokes with a quick back of a length delivery. The English all-rounder tried to defend the ball but it came in sharply only to find the inside edge. The ball was traveling fast and was moving away from Rishabh Pant, who produced a full-length dive to his right to complete a one-handed catch.
Watch Stokes' dismissal here:
A dream start for India.
Scorecard/clips: ms.spr.ly/6019bFCt1
🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 https://t.co/2Kp8YLEZLW
India kept up the pressure as Bumrah came back in the sixth over to dismiss Jonny Bairstow. The ace pacer continued his brilliant form to pick up his fourth wicket in the form of Liam Livingstone to reduce England to 26/5.
The tourists used the new ball to perfection to put the reigning world champions on the backfoot early in the game.
"It's important to take wickets upfront" - Indian captain Rohit Sharma at the toss
Rohit Sharma stressed during the toss in the first ODI, while choosing to bowl first, that they wanted to have a target in front of them.
Speaking at the toss, Rohit said:
"We are going to bowl first. There is some grass cover and it's overcast as well. I guess sun will be out in sometime. We want to have a score in front of us. Shami, Bumrah - those guys can swing the ball. It's important to take wickets upfront and put brakes on the scoring."
Four of England's blockbuster batsmen out on zero, how often do we see that in ODIs nowadays..credit to Bumrah, he has numbers of three of them to his name..I am assuming a few more to come today! legend stuff
With momentum on their side, the visiting side will look to wrap up England's innings as early as possible. They will look to chase down the target to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.