London: Less than two days after they were hammered by 10 wickets at the Oval, Jos Buttler-led England came up with a fine all-round effort to outclass an insipid India by 100 runs in the second ODI and level the series 1-1 at the Lord’s Stadium in London on Thursday. Chasing 247, India managed just 146 runs in 38.5 overs as their hopeless batting performance was on display.
With parity restored in the three-match series, the decider at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday promises to be a mouth-watering contest. When the Indian bowlers put up another impressive show to bowl out England for 246 in 49 overs, little did one know that the visiting batters would inexplicably implode for a paltry 146 in 38.5 overs in the face of nice seam and swing bowling from Reece Topley.
David Willey (1/27 in 9 overs), seasoned Moeen Ali (1/30) and Liam Livingstone (1/4) also played their parts to perfection.
Topley’s figures were the best by an Englishman at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’.
Having won the first game by 10 wickets, the Indian team couldn’t have comprehended that the wheels of fortune would turn so swiftly.
With Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant all back in the dressing room just after the first Powerplay and only 31 runs on board, there was only one possible result.
Topley’s figures were the best by an Englishman at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’.
Having won the first game by 10 wickets, the Indian team couldn’t have comprehended that the wheels of fortune would turn so swiftly.
With Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant all back in the dressing room just after the first Powerplay and only 31 runs on board, there was only one possible result.
Suryakumar Yadav (27), Hardik Pandya (29) and Ravindra Jadeja (29) did try their bit but the scores would certainly provide a bigger picture of the kind of plight Indian batters endured during the chase.
Dhawan (9 off 26 balls) and skipper Rohit (0 off 9 balls) looked distinctly uncomfortable as 6 feet 5 inch tall Topley hit the seam and, with his height, also extracted disconcerting bounce consistently.
Topley drew first blood after getting rid of the in-form Rohit Sharma in his second over. Thereafter, he dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna to pick up the six-fer.
Topley also won the Player of the Match for his stupendous spell of bowling. After being asked to chase down 247, India were bowled out for 146 in 38.5 overs. The southpaw also bowled two maidens and kept a check on the Indian batters.
Topley made his ODI debut way back in 2015, but he failed to keep his place in the national team. He was brought back into the setup in 2020 for a one-off game against Ireland. He also played two matches against the Netherlands last month.
