India v England: first men’s cricket one-day international – live

Right, that’s my stint done. James is back from his post-Sri Lanka v Australia power nap and ready to talk you through India’s reply. Do keep him company.

India need 249 to win

Wicket! Mahmood st Rahul b Kuldeep 2, England 248 all out

47th over: England 242-9 (Archer 16, Mahmood 1). Jadeja’s ninth over pegs the batters back and keeps England to a couple of singles before cleaning up Rashid to take his third wicket.

Wicket! Rashid b Jadeja 8, England 241-9

46th over: England 239-8 (Rashid 7, Archer 15). Left-arm spin at both ends as back comes Axar. Rashid drives down the ground for two, then adds a single, in an over that Axar hurries through at super-speed. England becalmed again.

45th over: England 236-8 (Rashid 4, Archer 15). Jadeja restores normal service with a maiden at Archer

44th over: England 236-8 (Rashid 4, Archer 15). Jofra’s on the charge! Hardik rejoins the attack, and Archer has no option but to have a pop. He swipes over long-on for four, then goes one better with a nonchalant pull over deep midwicket for SIX. The follow-up is a stunning straight drive for four. Archer is doing what no other England batters have managed since the opening overs.

43rd over: England 220-8 (Rashid 3, Archer 0). Jadeja returns. Rohit reviews for both an lbw and a run out against Bethell, who’d hoiked and missed. On-field umpire says no, but ball-tracking says yes. And thus ends a fine innings. My esteemed colleague Rob Smyth spent our Christmas do eulogising the transformational potential of Jacob Bethell (this is what we chat about when we’re off the leash), and he’s certainly proved he can cut it in all manner of roles – Test No 3, and here ODI all-rounder in the toughest environment of all.

Wicket! Bethell lbw b Jadeja 51, England 220-8

42nd over: England 218-7 (Bethell 50, Rashid 2). Unlike Jamie Overton last week, Bethell is happy to trust Rashid with the strike, taking a single off the first ball of Shami’s over. Rashid pulls to the deep for another. Bethell then plays his best shot of the innings, stepping back and threading a punchy cover drive to the boundary for four before bringing up a composed 50 with a single. Well played.

41st over: England 211-7 (Bethell 44, Rashid 1). Power play three starts, fielders in, Kuldeep on. And he thinks he has Rashid given out caught behind, as he makes room and tries to cut. The finger goes up but the batter reviews straight away, and is vindicated by Ultra-edge, which shows no contact.

“My Jungian friend would just like to gently remind Richard that he still hasn’t fully answered the question about his dream,” chides Brian Withington with some tough probing. “He also remains intrigued about the loss of all three stumps rather than just the middle one, and suggests a course of hypnotherapy sessions may be appropriate to help unlock any repressed memories.”

40th over: England 206-7 (Bethell 40, Rashid 0). Shami returns and Bethell carves away on the offside that brings England, coughing and wheezing, to 200. Carse celebrates the milestone by top-edging a pull to the fine leg boundary for four, but if you’re gonna pull, pull hard. Sharp, athletic fielding from Rohit Sharma at mid-on deprives Bethell of a four. Shami then castles Carse – reward for captain and bowler.

Wicket! Carse b Shami 10, England 206-7

39th over; England 199-6 (Bethell 38, Carse 5). Kuldeep is looking back to his best – this has been an impressive return – and the batters can’t find anything other than two singles. England may have their best ever white-ball spinner in their lineup today but nothing like the depth of the hosts. But we’ve long known that.

38th over; England 197-6 (Bethell 37, Carse 4). Axar is back on, and England take five singles. That’s all I got.

37th over: England 192-6 (Bethell 35, Carse 1). Kuldeep bamboozles Carse with a lovely googly that sits up, and then has a shout for lbw. He wants to review but his skipper and keeper don’t as it’s going down leg, so it’s two leg byes. Then – a four! – Bethell’s sweep eluding square leg.

36th over: England 184-6 (Bethell 30, Carse 0). Harshit greets Livingstone with a fierce bumper, and then sends down a looser grubber that Livingstone swings and misses. He tries another slog next ball but can only edge behind, bringing another feisty young tyro, Brydon Carse, to the crease. Big responsibility on Bethell now. Harshit has three for 53 on debut.

Here’s Richard Woods again: “Brian Withington has turned what was already a harrowing memory into something that Hieronymus Bosch would have found too challenging. I truly hope it was being distracted by the cap that made me unable to deal with the guile of Boycott’s straight ball. And if not, my memory is welcome to keep everything locked away.”

Wicket! Livingstone c Rahul b Harshit 5, England 183-6

35th over: England 182-5 (Bethell 29, Livingstone 5). Kuldeep replaces Axar, and sends down some wily, well mixed stuff. Four from the over.

34th over: England 178-5 (Bethell 28, Livingstone 2). So England have two big hitters out there now, who’ll have to go for it sooner rather than later. Harshit returns to the attack to see if he can add to his two scalps so far. It remains tight until Bethell steers the last ball of the over to the third man boundary for the first four for more than six overs.

33 overs: England 169-5 (Bethell 22, Livingstone 0). Axar’s come back well after being mauled in his first over, and Buttler and Bethel can only continue to do that thing what I’ve run out of new words for. Until – what’s this – Buttler miscues a sweep and dollies it right up to short fine leg. Ending a useful, meandering partnership. And that’s drinks.

Wicket! Buttler c Pandya b Axar 52, England 170-5

32nd over: England 167-4 (Buttler 51, Bethell 20). There are only so many ways you can describe nudged and driven singles and my cricketing thesaurus is beginning to run on empty here. The durable Hardik Pandya continues to run in and prove his value with another tight set, denying width, putting it in the right area. Just two from the over.

Brian Withington has questions for the dream therapy group: “Would it be straying too far to enquire of Richard Woods whether Boycott is wearing anything other than his cap, in what is already a fairly disturbing dream? Asking for a Jungian friend.”

31st over: England 165-4 (Buttler 50, Bethell 19). Bethell brings out a nice reverse sweep but it’s straight to deep backward point and only a single. Another one brings Buttler his 50 from 58 balls – a composed mature knock, vaguely reminiscent of his 2019 World Cup final innings. Axar fancies an lbw review after Bethell sweeps and misses but no one else does.

30th over: England 162-4 (Buttler 47, Bethell 18). Hardik has Bethell playing and missing with a tantalising slanting delivery across the left-hander. A hurried single builds up a very low-key 50 partnership, but a necessary one. Bethell’s 18 from 36 balls is well below his red-ball strike rate.

“Ooerr, England not likely to hit 250 at this rate,” frets Andrew Benton, “let alone the 300+ they probably need to make a game of it. And where’s Bazball gone?” Hidden under a pile of high-class bowling and fielding to be fair. This is not a country in which England’s white-ball team have thrived for a long time.

29th over: England 153-4 (Buttler 46, Bethell 17). England need to run hard with India still applying the tourniquet, and Buttler and Bethell do just that to take two after a drive from the former. The crowd are making their own entertainment at the moment – the stage of the game where, in England, men in fancy dress totter around carrying cardboard trays of lager

28th over: England 153-4 (Buttler 42, Bethell 15). Hardik replaces Shami. Buttler scuttles a quick single before Bethell at last finds the boundary, helping a short ball down to the ropes at fine leg. Something to build on?

27th over: England 145-4 (Buttler 41, Bethell 8). Different left-arm spin now, with Axar, who got some treatment earlier, in different times. Only three from him this time though.

26th over: England 142-4 (Buttler 39, Bethell 7). Shami, round the wicket to Bethell, has the left-hander playing and missing with a beaut. Bethell then drives for one, as does Buttler. This is all England seem able to do against this high-class attack at the moment, but do it they must.

25th over: England 138-4 (Buttler 37, Bethell 5). Jadeja’s sixth over begins with Bethell pushing smartly on the onside for one. Buttler flicks another single. Bethell wants to get down the track to the spinner but not finding the room to. But he’s still there and looking unruffled. At the halfway stage, England have work to do.

24th over: England 135-4 (Buttler 36, Bethell 3). Shami comes back into the attack to give Kuldeep a rest, from the opposite end to that from which he opened. He flings a bouncer over Bethell that Rahul fumbles, coughing up a bye. Bethell is happier facing pace but neither he nor Buttler can get much from this over – only the two from it.

23rd over: England 133-4 (Buttler 35, Bethell 3). Jadeja is finding turn and flight and looking masterful, until he tosses up a rare half-volley that Buttler drives for four – the first boundary Jadeja’s conceded. Bethell almost gets one in the face as he goes down hastily to sweep and the ball jags up towards his grille. He’s still learning.

22nd over: England 126-4 (Buttler 29, Bethell 2). A four! Hallelujah. The first for 45 balls, Buttler cutting neatly through the gaps square for four. He gets another, punishing Kuldeep’s short one outside leg with a fierce pull to the ropes. England’s best over for a while.

21st over: England 117-4 (Buttler 20, Bethell 2). There hasn’t been a boundary since the 14th over. Jadeja puts it on the spot again, and all Buttler and Bethell can do is survive, and take what they can find. Which is three from the over.