England's start to the first ODI against India was the stuff of dreams for the travelling side, scoring at a run rate of 8.42 inside nine overs.
However, just before the ninth over ended disaster struck when Phil Salt was "left stranded" by teammate Ben Duckett on 43 off 26 balls.
The opener hit a Hardik Pandya delivery through the offside with Shreyas Iyer just stopping a boundary. As Salt went for a third run he was already halfway down the pitch when Duckett sent him back. KL Rahul was only too happy to take off the bails.
"He's been left stranded, totally stranded … the first turn that Ben Duckett took was so slow," Sunil Gavaskar said on Fox's coverage.
Phil Salt attempts to track back before he's run out. Â BCCI
"I think there's a dressing room at the moment that would be under repair, he would be absolutely fuming," Kevin Pietersen added later.
With Salt falling on 1-75, England barely recovered from that moment. The next biggest partnership was 59 between Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell.
Both men scored half-centuries which led England to a total of 248 before they were bowled out after 47.4 overs. Jofra Archer's 21 not out at the bottom was vital.
Debutant Harshit Rana grabbed three wickets and vice-captain Shubman Gill hit 87 runs off 96 balls for India to beat England by four wickets in the first one-day international at VCA Stadium.
Rana took 3-53 in seven overs to help bowl out England for 248 runs in 47.4 overs after Jos Buttler opted to bat. Veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja picked up 3-26 and pacer Mohammed Shami took 1-38 in eight overs.
Gill anchored India's chase after Shreyas Iyer's 31-ball half-century. Iyer's 59 runs and his 94-run partnership off 64 balls with Gill under-pinned India's score. Gill added 108 runs off 107 balls with Axar Patel, whose 52 was his maiden ODI half-century.
India leads the three-match series 1-0. Cuttack hosts the second ODI on Sunday.
