Kevin Pietersen's honeymoon as England captain came to an abrupt end after they were beaten by India.

For several weeks after succeeding Michael Vaughan as captain of England's Test and one-day side, Pietersen could do little wrong and led them to a final Test victory at the Oval and an emphatic 4-0 home one-day series triumph over South Africa.

But that golden touch disappeared in the heat and dust of the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground with virtually every decision he made backfiring spectacularly as India romped to a 158-run victory in the opener to the seven-match series.

His first decision was to put India into bat on a green-looking surface and watched them race to 387 for five, their highest total against Test-standard opposition and the most England have ever conceded in a one-day international.

He also decided not to protest when Yuvraj Singh asked for a runner after sustaining back trouble and then watched him deliver one of the great one-day innings by hammering an unbeaten 138 off only 78 balls.

Just to cap his day, Pietersen's hopes of scoring a century and at least giving England a small hope of challenging India's total ended when he was run out for 63 after a mix-up over a quick single with Ravi Bopara - the man he had recalled to the team.

Perhaps the only consolation for Pietersen was that at least his side avoided the indignity of suffering their worst ever runs defeat of 165 against West Indies in St Vincent 14 years ago and against Pakistan at Karachi in 2005.

But following equally dismal displays both in the Stanford showdown in Antigua and their warm-up defeat to a Mumbai XI on Tuesday, it is unlikely to lift Pietersen's spirits greatly.

"We're not going to moan, we're not going to complain, we're not going to cry about it," stressed Pietersen. "We're going to keep our heads and chins up and make sure we give it a good go on Monday because there are still six games left.

"There are definitely improvements we can make and I'm not exactly excited by the fact that on that wicket we were 40 for four. I think there are definitely areas where we can improve and I think we can give them a good run for our money on Monday."

Having put his faith in his strong battery of seamers rather than play two spinners, Pietersen would have hoped they could have troubled the India batsmen more after winning the toss.

Instead, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir set the tone with a brilliant opening stand of 127 spanning just 19.5 overs which laid the platform for Yuvraj's later onslaught.

Yuvraj, overlooked for the recent Test series against Australia, was relatively patient at the start of his innings and reached his half-century off 42 balls.

But having lost Suresh Raina to a superb catch from Paul Collingwood at backward point, Yuvraj exploded and raced from 50 to a hundred off just 22 balls to complete his century off only 64 deliveries.

By the time he was celebrating his stunning century, the turning point of India's innings had probably passed - when England granted him the option of Gambhir returning to the crease as his runner in the 36th over.

Despite apparently suffering, Yuvraj tore into England's attack and helped India add 124 in the final 10 overs, finishing his innings having plundered 15 fours and six sixes.

"He came into the game perfectly fine and injured his back during the fixture so it's only fair (he had a runner)," said Pietersen. "If it happened to one of us then it's only fair we had the same - I'm not going to make a storm over it.

"You have to trust a man. I can't see whether somebody's in pain so you have to trust somebody. I don't think he would have called them on and got a runner and made a whole big thing about it if there wasn't a problem."

Having watched India smash his attack into submission, Pietersen should have been entitled to watch his top order play in similar manner but instead England lost four wickets inside the first 11 overs and never recovered.

While England's attack struggled to trouble India's batsmen throughout their innings, three of the top six were caught either at slip or behind while India's sharper fielding contributed to Pietersen's run-out and that of Steve Harmison before he had faced a ball.

Bopara demonstrated some fighting spirit with an unbeaten 54 off 38 balls to at least stave off England's heaviest ever defeat, but by then the outcome was settled and the enthusiastic crowd celebrated a comprehensive India victory.