Kohli, Kedar tame lions in style

England, put into bat, scored a mammoth 350 for seven in their 50 overs with Joe Root top scoring with 78 and ably supported by Ben Stokes who hammered 62 in 40 balls, with five sixes. India overhauled the target in 49 overs with Hardik Pandya (40 in 37 balls) and Ravichandran Ashwin (15 in 10 balls) helping the hosts cross the line after the centurions departed. 

Earlier, England bowlers feasted on a listless Indian bowling piling up their highest score of 350. One-down Joe Root and opener Jason Roy struck form early before Ben Stokes too blitzed his way to a half century en-route a record score for the rejuvenated visiting team. Put in to bat by Virat Kohli, starting a new chapter as the one-day skipper, England paced their innings well with Roy being the early aggressor with a 61-ball 73, inclusive of 12 fours, that was built upon by Root, who stroked his way to 78 in 95 balls. 

Captain Eoin Morgan (28) and Jos Buttler (31) got the starts without converting them into a bigger score at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje. Later, the left-handed Stokes used his bat like a sledgehammer to smack five sixes and two fours on his way to 62 off just 40 balls after reaching 50 in 33 balls, as England set up a new high total against the hosts in India. The score bettered the 338 for eight made by England in the tied encounter of the 2011 World Cup against India at Bengaluru. 

The last 10 overs of the innings brought England 115 runs, including 65 in the final five to leave India to score at an asking rate of 7.02 to win the game and go 1-0 up in the three-match rubber. The most impressive bowler was left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who not only applied the skids on England early on but also emerged with economic figures of 1 for 50. Ravichandran Ashwin was unimpressive and gave away 63 runs in eight overs without a wicket to his name.