A young India finally broke his prolonged defeats as they defeated England by 126 runs in an unbalanced first one day international in Hyderabad on Friday.
India rode conduction 87 blistering knock of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and 61 55-ball of Suresh Raina to post a mammoth 300 for seven and then skittled out visitors for only 174 runs 36.1 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, to take a 1-0 lead in the series of five meetings.
This was the first victory of India after a losing streak of 10 international matches which includes five ODIs (last two ODIs in the West Indies), four tests and one T20 international.
The wicket got slower as time passes and more recently India's spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tightened the noose on England's batsmen, sharing six wickets between them.
The margin of victory should come as a breath of fresh air for Dhoni and Co now certainly feel optimistic with the remaining four ODIs.
Craig Kieswetter (7) was the first to leave when he nicked a delivery going away by Praveen Kumar.
Kevin Pietersen (19) hit three boundaries, but direct shot of Ashwin from mid-on found him short of his crease.
Skipper Alastair Cook (60) joined hands with Jonathan Trott (26) and added 71 runs for the third wicket. Did the score for a very lively rhythm, but maintained a decent run rate, going for the team.
It was the spin of left-arm slow Jadeja who started the slide. The all-rounder Saurashtra Cook and Trott dismissed within the space of nine runs to a middle order collapse effect.
While Cook holed deep mid-wicket trying to give Jadeja charging, Trott played an unusual slog-sweep, only to be clean bowled.
The dangerous Ravi Bopara then offered a tame return catch to Ashwin, while Jadeja got his third scalp when young Jonathan Bairstow was dismissed in an identical manner.
From 111 for two, England slumped to 126 for six and the writing was on the wall.
Jadeja (3 to 34) and Ashwin (3 for 35) had almost identical figures, while Umesh Yadav (2 for 32) has also had a couple of wickets at the end.
The next day, however, belonged to the captain of India, who smashed an unbeaten 87 off 70 deliveries on a track where strokemaking wasn't exactly easy. He found an able supporter in Raina, who shot a 61 55-ball after India opted to fight for the conquest of space.
The last 15 overs resulted in a huge 150 runs as one got a glimpse of vintage Dhoni. The now famous ' helicopter ' shot recovered him a lot of races, as he hit 10 boundaries and a six enroute his 42nd half century in ODIs.
The innings took importance considering the amount of which was under pressure after the tour to England.
India were scoring runs at a sedate pace in the first 35 overs, partly due to the dual nature of the surface and also some disciplined bowling by visitors, before the duo started to hit the England bowlers, adding 72 runs for the fifth wicket in just 10 overs.
Once Raina departed, Dhoni took it upon themselves to punish English, who suddenly lacked discipline after bowling well for the better part of the innings.
Raina batting in the counter-attack, from mandatory Powerplay over 36th-40th, opened its doors, as India scored 59 runs in five overs.
Hit his usual aerial shots over between extra cover and mid-wicket while Dhoni also hammered Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan with consummate ease.
Raina completed his half century with a six off the bowling of Bresnan and was out trying to hit a slog shot. His 61 was studded with five fours and two sixes.
A wicket that offered variable bounce the Pacers England batsmen of India, especially Ajinkya Rahane (15), made a mess of the first mandatory Powerplay, during which India scored just 47 runs, losing wickets by Parthiv Patel in the process.
Parthiv argued a little too far, after Rahane hit a drive straight off bowler Steven Finn but got a hand to it on his follow through. Parthiv scored only nine.
The stage was set for Rahane fire after she had a life in the second over, as Jonathan Trott, at first slip, he left bowling to Finn. Rahane was yet to open his account.
However, the young in Mumbai went into a shell and even found it difficult to push through the gap to a single.
Gautam Gambhir, playing his first international match after a long period, hit a couple of crisp shots, including a square drive off Bresnan. The left-hander of Delhi
