Sports News: India Women defeated England Women in the first One Day International at Southampton on Thursday. Following a comprehensive 3-2 victory in the T20I series, the women in blue confidently asserted their dominance in the longer format. Chasing 259 was never a huge task for India's batting line-up. They got there with four wickets remaining and 10 balls to spare. India lost the toss and were made to bowl and started off magically. Openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones were dismissed cheaply for 5 and 1 runs, respectively.

India's disciplined bowling

After dismissing the openers very cheaply, the Indian bowlers were disciplined with their line and length throughout. Although Emma Lamb (39) and skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt (41) stitched a crucial 71-run partnership, they could not lay a big foundation for England. Their partnership was broken by spinner Sneh Rana, who dismissed Lamb. Shortly after, skipper Brunt fell again to Rana's brilliance. England were then reduced to 97-4.

England's fightback

England's best phase of the game then followed, involving a much-needed partnership between Sophia Dunkley and Davidson Richards. The duo added 106 runs for the fifth wicket and provided England with a decent score on the board. Richards was dismissed by Shree Charani on 53, while Dunkley went on to play till the last ball of the innings, scoring 83 off 92. With decent efforts from Sophie Ecclestone (23 off 19) with the bat, England reached 258.

India's chase

The Indian openers, Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana, got off to a decent start, stitching a 48-run stand for the first wicket. Smriti then got out for 28, followed by Partika, who fell for 36. India looked in trouble when Harleen Deol went back to the hut after a runout for 27. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur could not contribute big either, as she was dismissed by Charlie Dean for just 17. India's all-rounder Deepti Sharma then joined the crease with Jemmimah Rodrigues. The duo put 90 runs together on the board before the latter fell for 48.

Deepti scored a well-made 62 off 64, guiding India to the victory in the first ODI. For her performance, she was also adjudged the player of the match. This also meant that India registered their highest run chase in ODIs in England.