First ODI: Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur power India to 7-wicket win against England

Half-centuries by Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur helped India defeat England by seven wickets in the first One-Day International of the three-match series at the County Ground in Hove on Sunday.

Set a target of 228 runs, India finished with 232/3 in 44.2 overs as skipper Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 74 off 94.

The foundation of the chase was set up by Mandhana and Bhatia after Shafali Verma was dismissed in the second over. The two left-hander’s picked boundaries consistently and kept the scoreboard ticking to put the hosts under pressure.

Once Bhatia was dismissed for a stroke-filled 50 off 47, Mandhana got together with Harmanpreet to add a 99-run partnership for the third wicket and put the visitors in firm control of the match.

Mandhana, who had scored an unbeaten 79 to help India earn their only win in the three-match T20I series earlier, continued her fine form and finished with 91 off 99 on Sunday.

Earlier, India’s new-ball bowlers did a tidy job as England struggled to score freely after being asked to bat first. Lower order contributions by Danielle Wyatt (43), Alice Davidson Richards (50*) and Sophie Ecclestone (31) helped England get to 227/7 after they were reduced to 94/5 at one stage.

Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami delivered an impressive spell of 1/20 from her 10 overs, while Deepti Sharma returned with figures of 2/33.

The second ODI between England and India will be played at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury on Wednesday. The third and final match of the series will be played at Lord’s on Saturday.