ENG vs IND: Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 76 in the first ODI.© AFP
India captain Rohit Sharma hit a quickfire unbeaten 76 to help India chase down their 111-run target in 18.2 overs and win the first ODI against England at The Oval on Tuesday. In the process, he has leapfrogged Kane Williamson, Ricky Ponting and Viv Richards to become the visiting batter with most ODI runs in England. Rohit now has 1411 runs in ODIs in England, with seven centuries and as many half-centuries. New Zealand skipper Williamson is the next best on the list, with 1393 runs.
Rohit Sharma also became the first Indian to hit 250 sixes in ODIs during the match at the Kennington Oval.
The unbeaten 114-run partnership between him and Dhawan meant that the two have gone past the 5000-run mark in ODIs as openers. Rohit and Dhawan have stitched 5108 runs so far as an opening pair and will be looking to add to that as the series progresses.
Currently the fourth-most prolific partnership in the format among openers, the two are just 42 runs behind the West Indies pair of Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge.
In the match, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami’s brilliant opening spell meant England were bowled out for 110.
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While Bumrah took six wickets, Shami returned with three. Prasidh Krishna also chipped in with one wicket as the Indian pacers ran England rugged.
The chase was made to look simple by Rohit and Dhawan, despite the two batting in tricky conditions, as India took a 1-0 series lead with their 10-wicket win.
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