On February 6, England’s opener Phil Salt destroyed India’s rookie Harshit Rana in the opening ODI of the three-match series in Nagpur. England got off to a good start after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, with Ben Duckett and Salt attacking the Indian spinners. At the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, the red soil field appeared suitable for batting, and the visitors took full advantage of the situation.
Salt’s attack was particularly harsh on debutant Rana, who gave up 26 runs in his third over. The top-edge of the sixth over took the ball all the way over the boundary rope after the first delivery soared over the wicketkeeper. The right-arm fast was driven on the rise to the fence on the second delivery, but his KKR partner took up his slower delivery early and swivelled over to send the ball soaring into deep backward square-leg for another maximum.
Phil Salt 26 Runs vs Harshit Rana #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/12CCEzTKL0
— RCB Zone (@TheRcbZone) February 6, 2025
As the team’s score soared from 26 to 52, the following three deliveries resulted in a four, a dot, and a maximum. In the remaining batting powerplay, England appeared poised to score a lot more boundaries.
Harshit Rana makes a spectacular return and eliminates Duckett and Brook.
Harshit did not had to endure this for long, though, as he returned in spectacular fashion in the very next over to take his first ODI wicket, Duckett. Thanks to a spectacular grab by Yashasvi Jaiswal, another 50-over rookie, the left-handed opener was forced to return to the pavilion.
The middle-order gloved the ball on the leg-side after Harshit hit Harry Brook with a blockbuster two deliveries later. After losing badly in the first few overs of the match, India managed to recover behind the stumps thanks to wicketkeeper KL Rahul.
India
