Team India beat England by six wickets at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday, July 14 in the first ODI of the three-match series. The Men in Blue thus registered a morale-boosting win after losing T20I series’ to Ireland and England by 0-2 and 0-4 margins, respectively.
Batting first after winning the toss, England were bowled out for 258 in 47.5 overs. Joe Root top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 76 off 76 balls, while Liam Dawson scored 68 off 83 and Ben Duckett 43 off 45. England slipped from 61 for no loss to 107-6 and despite a recovery act from Root and Dawson fell short of posting a competitive total.
For India, all-rounder Axar Patel had an outstanding match. He put England firmly on the back foot with figures of 4-62 from 9.5 overs. With the willow, he scored a defiant 57* off 52 balls after Team India lost their way in the chase. Axar featured in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 102 in 105 balls with Washington Sundar, who contributed 52* off 63 balls.
Fans shared some interesting memes on social media during the course of the first ODI between India and England in Birmingham on Tuesday. There was praise for all-rounders Axar and Sundar and some fun trolling of Kohli as well. Take a look.
English translation of above tweet is as follows:
“India’s population is 1.47 billion, out of which men make up about 50-52%. The youth population might be around 20%, and among them, those who play cricket could be 5-6%, which means around 7 crore people. Despite having so many people, you are still playing that guy Washington Sundar—what should we even say to you guys? @BCCI”
Deservedly, Axar was named Player of the Match for his stellar all-round show in the first ODI between India and England in Birmingham.
“The way T20 series went, this is the perfect start” – Axar after winning POTM award in 1st ENG vs IND 2026 ODI
Speaking after the match, Team India all-rounder Axar opined that the Men in Blue have made the perfect start to the ODI series after losing the T20I series 0-4. Before the loss to England, India had also gone down 0-2 to Ireland in a two-match series. Reflecting on the win in the first ODI, Axar commented (via Cricbuzz):
“Obviously the way T20 series went, I think this is the perfect start for us. And very happy the way I performed today. I think I bowled under a particular area. I thought I have to bowl, you know, vary my pace and bowl stump to stump. And I did exactly what I wanted to do. And I’m lucky that I got the four wickets.”
Axar got the wickets of Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Josh Tongue. With the bat, he smacked five fours and a six in his unbeaten half-century. India made a good start to their chase in Birmingham, but lost their way a bit in the middle and slipped to 160-4. Axar and Sundar then featured in an unbroken century stand to take India home. On his match-winning partnership with Sundar, Axar said:
“When I went there, Washington was there. We were thinking that we are down a couple of wickets just now, we have to build a partnership right now. And after four, five overs, we’ll think about what we have to do because the way we got the start, I think we are ahead of the game. So we have to just build the partnership and just finish the game.”
Having won the opening ODI, Team India will look to clinch the three-match series when they take on England in the second match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday, July 16. The series will conclude with the third one-day match to be played at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Stadium in London on Sunday, July 19.
Edited by Renin Wilben Albert
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