We were outstanding with the ball: Roy

Jason Roy, the England opener, batted through dizziness and took England to victory over Pakistan in the first One-Day International (ODI) at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday (August 24). In a rain-effected game, Roy scored 65 and the hosts won by 44 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

During England's essay, the Surrey batsman complained about headache soon after completing two runs, with partner Alex Hales. The physio and doctor examined the opener and let him continue with his innings. Roy, later on, brushed off the incident saying it was because of the heat.

"Not really, I'm not a doctor but it was a case of not having enough sugar on me, apparently," he said when asked to explain what had happened. "I got a headache, felt a bit dizzy, got the doctor and physio on. Stayed calm, got my fluids on, got my sugar on, got away.

"I'll just remember in future on a hot day to be mindful of that. I was able to get my bearings, settle and reset myself and just go again."

England could not afford to lose Roy through an injury or pain as he has been the in-form batsman through the summer for them - the opener has amassed 381 in six games at an average of 95.25. However, he and Root looked on course to score big before both fell soon after reaching their respective fifties.

"It was really pleasing to get a score like that, and it was pleasing too that we could knock off the runs," Roy said. "Overall it was a great performance from the boys, we kept them below par, shame not to knock off the runs but we'll take the win. I thought we were outstanding with the ball."

Azhar Ali, the Pakistan skipper, led from the front for the visitors. He carried on his rich vein of form from the Test series into the ODIs, scoring 82 and setting up the platform for the likes of Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik. But the lower-order could not carry forward the momentum and had to settle with 260.

"Obviously, we always look to score 300, but definitely 280-290 [was needed]," he said. "One of your top order has to score and bat long, triple figures would be nice and you always build a total when the top order perform. I would have loved to continue but we had to make up for a lot of dot balls, especially in the middle part."

The second ODI in the five-match series is at the Home of Cricket, Lord's on Saturday (August 28).