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Summary India beat England by 126 runs in the first one-day international at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck an unbeaten 87 to guide India to a comprehensive 126-run victory over England in their first one-day international.Dhoni anchored India to an imposing total of 300-7 in 50 overs before Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets apiece as England was bowled out for 174 in 36.1 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.Looking to resurrect his teams fortunes after a disastrous recent tour of England where it failed to win a single game, Dhoni produced a mature knock to help India make a winning start to the five-match series.England captain Alastair Cook steadied his sides innings but his dismissal in the 23rd over triggered a slide from a score of 111-2 as the team lost its last eight wickets for 63 runs.Cook also felt the toss had not helped the visitors.It was an important toss to win because the ball was keeping low later in the day and it was difficult to play shots, he said.Dhoni added 72 for the fifth wicket with Suresh Raina (61) and 65 for the sixth with Jadeja (19), taking charge after a sluggish start saw India struggling on 87-3 after 20 overs in the absence of key players Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.The England innings had looked solid with Cook at the crease, with the skipper hitting seven fours off 63 balls before he was caught by Vinay Kumar at the mid-wicket fence off Jadeja.Trott followed him back to the pavilion when he was bowled playing across the line to Jadeja. Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow then gave easy return catches to Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja, and there was to be no fightback.The next match will be played in New Delhi on Monday, with Dhoni clearly seeing it as another opportunity to make amends after the one-day tour of England.Our batsmen did well but with the rain and all, our spinners struggled, he said of the trip.I would not call this a revenge series, but it is definitely a chance for us to get back to winning ways because if you are not winning, you cant enjoy the game.
