India had lost 2-0 to Ireland in Belfast and 4-0 to England in another T20 series but reinforcements in the shape of captain Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jaspit Bumrah and KL Rahul proved too good for England at the start of a three-match series.
Harry Brook's side had knocked India off the top of the T20 world rankings with their short-form success but it is a different story in the 50-over game, where they languish eighth in the standings and have now lost 14 of their last 20 matches.
With the forthcoming ODI World Cup the new priority for head coach Brendon McCullum, whose personal remit has shifted following his sacking from the Test set-up, their one-day struggles represent a fast growing headache.
England never really regained their footing after slipping to 5-80, but Joe Root's unbeaten 76 and a career-best 68 from all-rounder Liam Dawson roused them to 258 all out
That always looked too light, especially after away skipper Gill eased to a classy 80 before being forced to retire hurt with apparent hamstring problems.
Two quickfire wickets followed to lift English hopes but Axar Patel, who had earlier swept away the tail to claim 4-62, joined Washington Sundar to finish things with a pair of unbeaten half-centuries. Washington (52no) sealed victory in style with 28 balls remaining, lifting Adil Rashid over the top for six. Axar finished with 57 not out.
Opting to bat England put on 61 for the first wicket, Ben Duckett fluent and inventive on his way to a run-a-ball 43 while his latest opening partner turned in a flat audition.
Jacob Bethell, following in the recent footsteps of Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Zak Crawley and Rehan Ahmed at the top of the order, scraped together a clunky 14 and chewed up 31 deliveries before turning Gurnoor Brar straight to midwicket. That kicked off a dramatic collapse, with a England flailing to lose five wickets for 19 runs in the next 26 balls.
Complete capitulation could have followed had Shivam Dube held a caught-and-bowled chance off Root on seven, but that miss allowed the Yorkshireman a second chance to rebuild. He and Dawson stayed together for the next 22 overs, settling for calm accumulation as they pieced together a stand of 121.
Sharma (11) and Kohli (5) were quickly dismissed as India began the chase but Gill and Shreyas Iyer (35) took the score to 2-149 before Gill hobbled off. Brook ran out Iyer and Tongue bowled KL Rahul (1) to knock a hole in the middle order but Axar and Washington took India to victory with an unbroken partnership of 102 from 105 balls.
with AP
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