India went into the match without the talismanic Virat Kohli, who was unavailable because of a sore right knee, and at that juncture losing Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) and Rohit Sharma (2) cheaply was a recipe for disaster. But Gill batted sensibly and with Iyer playing a counter-attacking innings, helped India to safety.

Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel smashed half-centuries as India defeated England by four wickets in the opening one-day international on Thursday and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series that is a warmup for the Champions Trophy.

Debutant Harshit Rana grabbed three wickets and vice-captain Shubman Gill hit 87 runs off 96 balls for India to beat England by four wickets in the first one-day international at VCA Stadium on Thursday.