India finally registered a much-needed win on this tour after suffering a series of losses over the last few weeks. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Shubman Gill starred in India's run chase after the fast bowlers initially set up the win by pinning England down at 80/5 at one stage.

Here are the talking points from the Birmingham ODI:

Change in format, change in fortunes

India needed this. They needed this quite badly. Despite winning back-to-back T20 World Cups and a Champions Trophy sandwiched between them, no team faces heat as much as India does in world cricket after a few losses. And in all fairness, not many expected India to lose to Ireland and England in the T20Is anyway. However, they invited a lot of pressure on themselves by losing six and winning none over the last few weeks. The change in format, which also meant the influx of some big names, was India's last hope to finally register a win on this tour. They were finally able to do exactly that despite a minor hiccup. Jasprit Bumrah playing his first 50-over game for India in almost three years? Certainly didn't feel so when he bowled his first spell.

The Jacob Bethell experiment

Round one didn't exactly go England's way. England's newest experiment with their opening combination got off to an inauspicious start as Jacob Bethell failed to make an impression up top. Ben Duckett's fifth opening partner since last year's Champions Trophy, Bethell struggled to deal with the movement early on and took 13 balls to get off the mark. He stuttered throughout his stay with Duckett handling the bulk of the scoring. And when he did time one perfectly, Bethell hit the ball straight to the fielder in the deep to give Gurnoor Brar his first wicket of the day.

Dawson's stocks rise

Any doubts over Liam Dawson's presence in the England ODI setup at the age of 36 despite playing less than 10 games in the format should be put to rest now. Already a regular presence in the T20 lineup, Dawson earned a recall to the ODI XI at the start of the year in Sri Lanka and showcased why he can be central to England's plans in 50-over cricket as well. On Tuesday, England's frontline batters crumbled to leave them reeling at 80/5 and then later 107/6. Dawson showed plenty of composure batting alongside Root to bail England out of trouble and, in fact, towered over the former England skipper for a large period during their century partnership. In the process, he became the second oldest English cricketer to register his maiden fifty in the format. While October 2027 is still some time away, Dawson is here to stay.

Still England's Mr.Dependable

Joe Root was England's player of the series in Sri Lanka. Playing the format again after almost six months, the veteran just continued from where he left. On a day where he watched a procession right from the time he joined Duckett out in the middle in the 13th over, Root stood firm. Adapting quickly to the demands of the one-day game, Root dragged the English innings right to the end and brought up his fourth successive fifty-plus score in the format before picking up pace. England could have easily had 20 runs more had Root found support at the other end in the final few overs. With just two wickets remaining, Root was desperate to get back on strike against Axar Patel whom he had hammered for a six earlier. But Adil Rashid and Josh Tongue let him down by attempting reckless strokes that cost them their wickets, leaving Root stranded.

The triple failure

While Root was in his elements, the same cannot be said about India's veteran trio. Not often in this format do Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both endure failures in the same game. The first ODI in Birmingham was a rare instance with Ro-Ko disappointing the crowd by heading back to the pavilion early. Rohit, who was stuttering on 4 off 15 at one point, mistimed one against Sam Curran quite badly to get caught and then Kohli failed to come out on top in his battle against Archer as he got trapped lbw. India would have wanted the other senior pro KL Rahul to steady the ship and guide them home with ease when England found an opening again after Gill was forced off the field with an injury. However, Rahul chopped one onto his stumps very early in his innings to depart for just 1 to give England an opening again. Together, these three managed just 17 on the board.

The grand comeback

Axar's last ODI appearance before this fixture came in Sydney last year. Despite registering decent figures, Axar was left out of the ODI setup in favour of Ravindra Jadeja initially and then later Harsh Dubey. From that standpoint, this was always a crucial game for the allrounder given the jostle for places. There was also a mini battle with Washington as the Tamil Nadu allrounder was picked to bat above KL Rahul to break India's pattern of right-handers in the top 5. Remember, it was Axar who did that role during the Champions Trophy last year. After a topsy-turvy phase in the format, it's safe to say that Tuesday's allround efforts would have placed Axar ahead of every other finger spinner in the pecking order, especially with India expected to field just one in that category during the World Cup in South Africa. Axar struck at a crucial time during the England innings to break the century partnership before cleaning up the tail to deny Root at the death. But it was his efforts with the bat in the run chase that would have pleased the management a lot more after arresting India's slide alongside Washington at a critical juncture. The two batters ended up adding over 100 with Axar taking the lead in the partnership that eventually guided India home. A four-wicket haul, an unbeaten half-century and a player of the match award? Hard to top that.