An heroic knock from Rohit Sharma and some late hitting from Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron guided India to a tense one-wicket win over West Indies in the first ODI in Cuttack on Tuesday.

With India falling to 59 for five at one stage it was up to Rohit Sharma (72) to play the anchor role as his team chased down the West Indies' under-par first innings total of 211 for nine.

With the dew factor expected to hassle the spin bowlers in the latter half of the match, Indian captain Virender Sehwag opted to bowl first at the Barabati Stadium and enjoyed early fruit for his decision as the Windies fell to 52 for three.

As has become the norm on this tour, the seamers - Yadav (two for 33) and Aaron (two for 47) - did the initial damage before the slow bowlers completed the job, but not before Darren Bravo and Danza Hyatt had offered some stern resistance across their 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

With a lame run-out ending their alliance, the status quo that has seen the visitors suffer numerous collapses in recent weeks resumed. Yet again, the spinners were at the fore. Where Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha dominated in the Test series, Ravindra Jadeja picked up alongside Ashwin for the series opener in this five-match series.

While snaring a mere two wickets between them, Ashwin and Jadeja were entirely miserly with their respective economy rates. The stranglehold was in place - and the opposition never recovered.

Bravo's 60 and Hyatt's 31 was laid to waste. Only Andre Russell's cameo of 22 managed to pip a total once destined for 260-plus beyond 200.

In chase of 212, India's reply got off to a glorious start as Sehwag and Parthiv Patel raced to 37 without loss inside four overs. However, Parthiv (12) lost his concentration as he chased a short and wide one from Kemar Roach and cut it straight into the hands of Anthony Martin.

Gautam Gambhir (4) then looked in great form as he got off the mark with a boundary before he too chased a loose Roach delivery and only succeeded in edging it to Ramdin. Virat Kohli (3) also failed to make an impact as Roach picked up his third with a superb ball that jagged back off the seam and clipped Kohli's off stump, leaving India reeling at 47 for three.

The three quick wickets prompted Sehwag to change his game and he started to look to play a long innings, but that idea was soon banished as he was bowled for 20 by Russell after failing to move his feet. The wicket of Suresh Raina (5) then made it 59 for five when he scooped the ball to Bravo at mid-off and it then was up to Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja to try and put a partnership together.

The two were kept very quiet as the run-rate began to drop, but they did manage to muscle an 83-run partnership before Jadeja was out caught by Simmons off the bowling of Kieron Pollard for 38.

Sharma then continued on and brought up his half-century, but Test match hero Ravichandran Ashwin couldn't provide him with much support at the opposite end as the pair got involved in a mix-up between the wickets resulting in Ashwin being run out for six.

Vinay Kumar did brilliantly as he proved his worth in the side by rotating the strike regularly, allowing Sharma to play the senior role. However, Sharma failed to go the distance and was bowled by Martin for a brilliant 72 with 11 runs still needed.

Kumar too then lost his wicket five balls later and it was left to the unlikely duo of Yadav and Aaron to take India home and give them a 1-0 series lead in the 49th over.