England v India: Tammy Beaumont leads hosts to emphatic eight-wicket win in Bristol

Tammy Beaumont and Nat Sciver helped England cruise to an eight-wicket win over India in the first one-day international in Bristol.

Beaumont's unbeaten 87 and a powerful 74 not out from Sciver helped England chase down 202 to claim two points in the multi-format series.

A sluggish India posted 201-8 from their 50 overs, captain Mithali Raj top-scoring with a painstaking 72 from 108 deliveries.

Sophie Ecclestone took 3-40 and Katherine Brunt a fine 2-35 to restrict India further.

India were rarely in the contest, struggling to make an impact with the bat before being undone by Beaumont's creativity in England's reply.

England lead the series 4-2 after points were shared from the drawn Test match.

• Follow reaction & analysis to England's win

Beaumont & Sciver lead way

Both Beaumont and Sciver played with the same positivity that almost gave England victory in the one-off Test match on the same ground last week.

Opener Beaumont is the second highest run-scorer in women's ODIs since the 2017 World Cup and averages 46.64 in her international 50-over career.

A strong sweeper, she settled straight away, finding back-to-back boundaries off Ekta Bisht. Her acceleration led England to 61-1 at the end of the powerplay - their highest total in their past 11 ODI innings.

Beaumont's 50 - her 20th in ODIs - came from 48 balls and she rarely went below a run a ball.

She was well-supported by Sciver, who hits the ball as hard as anyone in the women's game, the all-rounder showing her easy power with a straight six as the match wound to a close.

Both players were fluent in their foot movement, with wristy shots allowing them to find the gaps in the field.

If anything, their innings put India's ponderous effort into an even starker light.

Old-school India struggle to total

The contrast between Shafali Verma, making her debut at just 17, and Mithali Raj, who first played an ODI for India 22 years ago, was stark in Bristol.

Verma was one of only two players to go at a strike rate in excess of 100, hitting three fours in her 14-ball 15, while Raj did not hit a boundary until her 45th delivery.

There is an argument for having one player anchoring the innings and then accelerating at the end, but Raj's struggles to find the boundary, and her seeming reluctance to run hard, clearly affected the rest of the batters.

Punam Raut fell trying to accelerate the rate, top-edging a pull off Kate Cross to mid-on, before Harmanpreet Kaur tried a powerful cut shot to just her ninth delivery and sent a thin edge behind.

Raj laboured to her 56th ODI half-century and only really began to find the boundary in the final 10 overs, by which time India had lost five wickets.

Her doggedness helped England's bowlers slow the run-rate down, with only Anya Shrubsole proving expensive when her eighth over was dispatched for 15 by Raj and Pooja Vastrakar.

Spinner Ecclestone once again excelled and pace bowler Brunt was as fiery as ever, particularly in dismissing Verma for 15, but India never seemed to go on the attack.

India ended their innings with 181 dot balls, 20 fours and no sixes, resulting in a score that never felt threatening enough to England's dynamic batters.

'It was clinical' - what they said

England captain Heather Knight on Sky Sports: "The bowlers were outstanding, and to finish it that clinically makes it a good day at the office.

"We felt the pitch had pace, and India obviously aren't used to it. The bowlers have been working on their short balls, and it was really effective today."

India captain Mithali Raj on Sky Sports: "We lacked intent in all three departments. We needed another top-five batter to stay there, our bowlers could be more consistent with their length, and our fielding needs to improve.

"England definitely have an experienced attack, they know the conditions well and what lengths to bowl. We'll look to show more intent, to score more runs, in the next game."

Ex-Middlesex captain Isabelle Westbury on BBC Test Match Special: "A comprehensive victory which you could almost have predicted in the first 10 overs after Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma got out.

"If they got going, it could've given India some impetus, but from that moment on from the 11th over to the 30th, it was disappointing."

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