Tredwell breakthrough gives England hope

James Tredwell ended an ominous opening stand as England and India jostled for position in a thrilling first one-day international in Rajkot.

England won the toss and batted first, Ian Bell (85) and Alastair Cook (75) among the runs as they posted an impressive 325 for four to leave India what would have to be their biggest successful chase on home soil.

Bell and Cook's stand of 158 was England's highest first-wicket partnership against India but Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane looked like matching it until Tredwell removed the latter for 47. That left India on 96 for one in the 17th over and the game in the balance.

Having watched the first innings, Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach knew keeping things tight would be no easy task and Gambhir was quick to drive home the message.

He was quick to locate the ropes off both bowlers and kick-started the innings in earnest with three consecutive boundaries to begin Finn's third over.

Rahane completed the paceman's misery with four more off the final ball, the over costing 17 as India made light of the required rate.

Tim Bresnan took the seventh over but yielded 10, Rahane on the attack this time as India raced past 50.

England brought on off-spinners Tredwell and Joe Root at the end of the 10-over powerplay and the pair succeeded in drying up the boundaries.

When Rahane lobbed Tredwell to long-off it opened the door for England, but the scoring rate remained strong.