India have ended their seven-match losing streak in England in style. They beat England by six wickets in the first ODI at Edgbaston on July 14, 2026, chasing down 259 with Washington Sundar and Axar Patel leading an unbroken sixth-wicket stand. Axar Patel’s All-Round Show Powers India to win the 1st ODI game by 6 wickets easily in 46th over.
England’s Innings: Bumrah and Brar Set the Tone
England won the toss and chose to bat. The opening ten overs were frustrating for India. Jasprit Bumrah conceded only eight runs in his first four overs but could not find the early breakthrough. Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell absorbed the new ball patiently.
Then Gurnoor Brar changed everything. He removed Bethell for 14 in the 12th over and followed it immediately by dismissing Duckett for 45 two balls later. Two wickets in three balls reduced England to 63 for 2.
England Collapse to 107 for 6
Brar’s double strike opened the floodgates. Harry Brook came to the crease and lasted just one ball. Bumrah returned for his second spell and produced a delivery of sharp extra bounce that flew off the outside edge through to Rohit Sharma at first slip. Brook was gone for 1. England were 64 for 3.
Jos Buttler, playing his historic 200th ODI, fell for just 20. Sam Curran edged Prasidh Krishna behind for 5. KL Rahul produced a stunning one-handed diving catch off his own bowling to dismiss Will Jacks for 18. England were 107 for 6 at the halfway stage and staring at a total well below 200.
Root and Dawson Save England
Joe Root and Liam Dawson came together and produced a recovery partnership that completely changed the match. They added 121 runs for the seventh wicket. Dawson scored 68, his best innings across all formats. Root remained unbeaten on 76 off 76 balls.
Shivam Dube dropped a return catch when Root had scored just 7. That let-off proved enormously costly. Axar Patel broke the partnership in the 44th over when he had Dawson caught by Rohit at deep backward square leg. Axar then wrapped up the tail, finishing with 4 for 62 as England were bowled out for 258 in 47.5 overs.
India’s Chase: Kohli and Rohit Fall Early
India’s chase began with two early setbacks. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 11 by Sam Curran. Virat Kohli, returning for his first ODI since November, was given out lbw to Jofra Archer for just 5 in the seventh over. India were 40 for 2 and the crowd stirred.
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer settled the innings with a composed partnership. Gill raced to a quickfire 80 before retiring hurt after being struck on the body by a Josh Tongue delivery. Iyer was then run out by Harry Brook for 19, leaving India at a precarious position in the middle overs.
Axar and Sundar Seal the Win
KL Rahul fell for just 1, bowled by Josh Tongue, to leave India at 189 for 5. Washington Sundar walked in at number seven alongside Axar Patel and the two left-handers batted with extraordinary composure throughout the final phase of the chase.
Sundar finished 34 not out. Axar was exceptional, hitting 54 not out with intelligent boundary placement and outstanding running between the wickets. Their unbroken stand of 70 runs took India over the line with eight balls remaining. The Indian dressing room celebrated a win that had seemed far from certain when Kohli and Rohit departed inside the first ten overs.
Axar Patel: The Difference Between the Two Sides
There is no debate about who made this match. Axar Patel was India’s player of the match and it was not particularly close. His 4 for 62 with the ball restricted England from posting a significantly larger total. His unbeaten 54 in the chase finished the job when it looked like India might wobble.
This is not the first time Axar has produced a match-winning all-round performance on a big occasion. He has done it consistently in conditions that suit his style of batting and bowling, and Edgbaston’s slower surface gave him exactly the platform he needed.
The kind of composed, decisive cricket India showed today was reminiscent of their dominant form through the 2025 Champions Trophy, covered in full detail in our breakdown of how India won the 2025 Champions Trophy undefeated.
England’s Bowling and What Went Wrong
England’s bowling was not poor. Jofra Archer dismissed Kohli. Sam Curran took Rohit early. Josh Tongue got the captain Gill retired hurt and then removed Rahul. Those four top-order wickets should have been enough to squeeze India. They were not.
The difference was the lower-middle order. Sundar and Axar showed more composure in the final ten overs than England’s lower order managed in their own innings. It is also worth noting that India’s ODI record against England on this tour, now 1-0, is dramatically better than their T20I performances, confirming what the statistics have shown all year about how effective this side is in the 50-over format.
Their form against lower-ranked opposition like Afghanistan earlier this year, previewed in detail in our piece on India vs Afghanistan 1st ODI at Dharamsala, foreshadowed exactly this kind of top-order depth and lower-order resilience combination.
Conclusion
India reset their tour emphatically at Edgbaston. Bumrah and Brar dismantled England’s top order. Axar Patel delivered an all-round performance that will be talked about long after this series ends. The series moves to Cardiff on July 16 with India 1-0 ahead. The win does not erase the T20I embarrassment. But it is the strongest possible answer to every question that had been asked about this team over the past two weeks.
