Yuvraj Singh marked his return to form with a boasting unbeaten 138 as India recorded its biggest win by runs against England by spanking the wretched visitors by 158 runs in the series-opening cricket one-dayer.

After scoring a massive 387 for five, the hosts were bundled out England for 229 in 37.4 overs in a lop-sided contest to take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match series.

India's previous best victory margin by runs against England was 86 at Sydney in 1985 and their biggest margin is 257 runs against Bermuda at Port of Spain in 2007. India's highest previous total against England was 329-7 at Bristol in August 2007.

Yuvraj defied a worrying back in great style as he plundered runs at will, scoring 16 boundaries and six sixes during his 78-ball slaughter.

The striking Virender Sehwag (85), Gautam Gambhir (51), Suresh Raina (43) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (39) were the other notable performers after England captain Kevin Pietersen put India in to bat.

England could never really recover from a devastating start as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals with only Pietersen standing bravely amidst the ruins with an aggressive 63 and Ravi Bopara (54 not out) hitting some vigorous shots.

Yuvraj, batting with a belt around his waist reached his hundred off just 64 balls with 11 fours and four sixes, narrowly missing out Mohammed Azharuddin's 62-ball century record.

The 26-year-old batsman, got to his second fifty off only 22 balls with six fours and two sixes.
Earlier both Sehwag and Gambhir provided a good solid start as they added together a partnership of 127 in less than 20 overs.

After their departure, Suresh Raina (43) and Yuvraj added 89 runs in only 12.5 overs.
In the last overs, skipper Dhoni and Yuvraj put up a partnership of 105 runs in only 58 balls for the fifth wicket. However, Yousuf Pathan failed to open his account.

The second match between the two teams would be played on Monday at Indore.

Scores in Brief:
India 387/5 in 50 overs ( Yuvraj 138 n.o., Sehwag 85, Gambhir 51, Raina 43, Dhoni 39, Harmission 2/75)

England 229 all out in 37.4 overs, Pietersen 63, Bopara 54 n.o., Zaheer 3/26)

Man of the Match: Yuvraj Singh