Beaumont, Sciver half-centuries help England take 1-0 series lead

SCORECARD

England captain Heather Knight won the toss and put India in to bat. Shafali Verma (15), on her ODI debut, started in typically aggressive fashion but fell early to a short ball from Katherine Brunt (2/35). Anya Shrubsole (2/33) then got the scalp of Smriti Mandhana (10) as the scoreboard read 27/2 at the end of 10 overs.

The responsibility was on Punam Raut and skipper Mithali Raj to steady the ship after a poor start. The two strung together a 56-run partnership before Raut fell in the bid to up the scoring. India sunk further as Sophie Ecclestone (3/40) sent Harmanpreet Kaur (1) back to the pavilion two over later.

At 84/4, Raj had to once again carry out the rescue act, this time with Deepti Sharma (30) at the other end. The Indian captain brought up her 56th ODI half-century in the 41st over and just when it looked like the two batters in the middle were set to tee off at the death, Shrubsole trapped Sharma (30) in front. Raj started to cut loose with three boundaries in seven balls but had no answer to Eccelstone's arm ball that cut short her innings at 72.

Brunt and Ecclestone bowled tightly in the death and gave away just 20 runs in the last four overs for two wickets to restrict India to 201/8 in the first innings.

In reply, England got off to a brilliant start despite losing Lauren Winfield-Hill (16) early and ended the Powerplay at 61/1. The dismissal of skipper Knight (18) didn't affect England too much either as Beaumont took the attack to the Indian bowlers and brought up her fifty in just 48 balls.

She was joined by Sciver, who also adopted an aggressive approach. Timing the ball sweetly and unleashing some brutal hits, Sciver brought up her half-century as the pair ensured there were no further hiccups in the run-chase. Beaumont (87*) and Sciver (74*) chased the target down with 91 balls remaining, leaving India with plenty to ponder upon ahead of the second match in Taunton.