Centuries from the old boys Yuvraj and Dhoni helped India post a daunting total.
Half-centuries from Jason Roy, Joe Root, Moeen Ali and century from the skipper Eoin Morgan were not enough for England as they slumped to a second consecutive ODI loss against India at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Chasing a mammoth 382 to win, England could manage only 366-8 in their quota of 50 overs.
Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited India to bat first. India’s top-ordered faltered again and were struggling at 25-3, all three wickets claimed by Chris Woakes. After the early departure of Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, all eyes were set on Yuvraj and MS Dhoni for the revival of innings.
The two old horses did not disappoint and proved their mettle with their sensible batting. The duo first adjusted to the pitch and upon settling, displayed their old class en route to their 256-run partnership. Yuvraj completed his century in the 33rd over with a single off Plunkett’s delivery. He went on to score his career best score of 150 before being caught behind off Chris Woakes’ delivery. Dhoni lit up the show at the other end by hitting 10 fours and 6 sixes in his 134-runs inning.
Small cameos by Jadhav, Pandya and Jadeja meant that the scoreboard read 381-6 at the end of 50 overs.
Chris Woakes ended the innings with figures of 4-60 in 10 overs.
Kohli-Jadhav centuries lead India to victory against England in the first ODI
So close, yet so far for England.
England showcased their intentions clearly as they crossed the 100-run mark in just over 15 overs, losing just a single wicket in the process. Jason Roy batted with aplomb and scored his second consecutive half-century of the series. He was complemented superbly by Joe Root as they completed their 100-run partnership in 16 overs.
After the dismissal of Root by Ashwin, in came the England skipper Eoin Morgan. He along with Moeen Ali took the score close to 300. Their 73-ball 93-run partnership brought the English back into the game. Liam Plunkett supported Morgan brilliantly but the game got out of the hands of the visitors once Morgan was run-out by by Bumrah off his own bowling. The English side were eventually restricted to 366-8 and thus lost the game by 15 runs.
The pick of the Indian bowlers were Ravindra Jadeja for his economical performance of 1-45 in 10 overs while Ashwin managed 3-65 off his 10 overs.
Yuvraj Singh was awarded the Man of the Match award for his excellent 127-ball 150.
The last match of the series is scheduled to be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 22nd January.
