Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell half-centuries give England something to bowl at

Half-centuries from captain Jos Buttler and 21-year-old Jacob Bethell rescued England after they had thrown away a promising position against India in the first of three ODIs in Nagpur.

Phil Salt’s 43 off 26 balls had propelled England to 75 without loss in the ninth over but his run-out after a mix-up with Ben Duckett was the start of the tourists losing three wickets in eight deliveries.

England never quite recovered the momentum, with Joe Root out for 19 on his first ODI appearance since the 2023 World Cup, before Buttler’s 52 off 67 balls and Bethell’s 51 from 64 carried England to 248 all out in 47.4 overs.

Harshit Rana bounced back from leaking 26 in an over off Salt to take three for 53 while England’s spin problems persisted as the wily Ravindra Jadeja was outstanding in claiming figures of 9-1-26-3, having been rested for India’s 4-1 T20 series win.

Virat Kohli was also expected to be back for India but missed out with a right knee injury, giving England an extra boost after winning the toss.

After a watchful start, Salt kicked into overdrive with three sixes – one top-edge and two more authoritative pulls – off Rana to take England from 26 after five overs to 52 after six.

Axar Patel leaked 15 in his opening over, swept to distraction by Duckett, but England then shot themselves in the foot.

After cutting Hardik Pandya, Salt came back for a third but was three-quarters of the way down the pitch when he was sent back and run out by Shreyas Iyer’s throw from the deep.

Rana was brought back and had Duckett superbly caught on the pull for 32 by fellow debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal, while Harry Brook gloved down the leg-side in the same over as 75 for none became 77 for three.

A risk-free 34-run stand followed from England’s two most senior batters but Jadeja fizzed through Root’s defences, rapping him above the knee roll and not even height could save him on review.

While Buttler put away Kuldeep Yadav for two fours in an over, the England skipper settled on picking the gaps and running hard, with Bethell not entirely convincing but providing valuable support.

After bringing up his first ODI fifty in India, Buttler gave it away after top-edging an Axar drag down that looped gently to fine-leg.

Liam Livingstone impatiently charged at Rana and tickled to KL Rahul while Brydon Carse was bowled by Mohammed Shami, but Bethell steadily grew in confidence.

When Hardik went short Bethell swung off his hips for six but on the whole he showed the self-restraint some of his team-mates lacked.

However, shortly after bringing up his half-century, he missed a slog sweep off Jadeja and was lbw on review, and despite some lusty hitting from Jofra Archer (21 off 18) England were unable to get to 250.