Sloppy England beaten by India in first ODI

First ODI, Southampton

England 258-6 (50 overs): Dunkley 83 (92); Rana 2-31

India 262-6 (48.2 overs): Sharma 62* (64); Dean 2-52

India won by four wickets; lead series 1-0

Scorecard

A below-par performance from England saw India seal a four-wicket win in the first one-day international in Southampton.

Chasing 259 to win, India all-rounder Deepti Sharma's unbeaten 62 saw the tourists reach their target with 10 balls to spare.

The dismissals of Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh in quick succession, with 24 runs still needed from 27 balls, gave England a glimmer of hope and the prospect of a tense finale but Amanjot Kaur held her nerve with 20 not out to see India to their second-highest successful chase in ODIs.

Amid a sloppy fielding effort, England also paid the price for failing to review an lbw against Sharma when she was on 40.

It is a crucial series for England, who are looking to gain confidence from their final three matches in the format before the autumn's World Cup in India.

The positives included Sophia Dunkley's well-paced 83 from 92 balls, and Alice Davidson-Richards made 53 as they rescued an innings that was teetering at 97-4.

Openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones both fell cheaply to young seamer Kranti Goud, before Nat Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb fell in consecutive Sneh Rana overs, having added 71 for the third wicket.

Dunkley and Davidson-Richards dropped anchor with a steady and sensible stand of 106, and despite scoring 36 from the final three overs, it proved that England left it too late to accelerate with five wickets still in hand.

The three-match series continues at Lord's on Saturday.

Jones and Beaumont started the summer with back-to-back partnerships of 200-plus against a poor West Indies, but were put under far more run-rate pressure against India's new ball threat.

Promising young seamer Goud struggled with consistency, bowling six wides, but found decent seam movement to bowl Jones through the gate for one and pinned Beaumont lbw for seven.

Sciver-Brunt and Lamb looked to be rescuing the innings, both dominating against India's spinners after moving to 55-2 from the powerplay, but again their successive dismissals meant that most of England's innings was spent in a rebuilding mode.

India could have won the game far more comfortably had they held on to their chances, a disappointment considering their supreme fielding in the preceding T20 series which they won 3-2.

Davidson-Richards was put down on 16 by Goud in her follow-through and Dunkley survived on 22 as Rodrigues spilled a chance at short mid-wicket.

They rotated the strike efficiently throughout the middle overs and were innovative against spin with an array of sweeps, but despite the wickets in hand they showed little sign of intent.

Dunkley's knock was well-paced and she improved her strike-rate towards the death but the innings was crying out for some aggression as they reached the final 10 overs on 182-4.

Though Sophie Ecclestone struck 23 not out as she was promoted ahead of Charlie Dean to seven, it felt like England are a batter light which could explain their hesitancy, as they could not fully capitalise on the platform that the middle order had provided.