Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes’ massive 175-run stand laid the foundation of England’s six-wicket win in the second ODI. Hit with injuries, England may have begun the second ODI on backfoot but ended the day on a high when they raced to a series-levelling win.
In the first ODI, they fell 66 runs short. Their target then was just 318. Today without their regular captain Eoin Morgan, who was ruled out with a hand injury, the visitors had their task cut out, chasing 337.
However, when Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow walked in to bat, none of that mattered. They tested the waters by batting out the first couple of overs with caution. Roy was the first to break free with a beautiful caress down the ground for a four in the fourth over off Prasidh Krishna. In the next Krishna over, he hit three more fours. Two more followed in the over after that and the scene was set.
Bairstow joined the party late but Roy’s confidence had rubbed off on him as well. Together the duo made the most of the unassuming wicket. When Bairstow let loose the sixes, the 100 partnership came up in no time. Roy completed his 19th ODI fifty as well. He could not convert it into triple figures and was run out on 55.
It was then, when Stokes joined Bairstow, that the game truly accelerated. The pair kept the scorecard ticking. The bowlers hardly troubled them as they brought up a century stand. And soon the carnage started.
Stokes, who had been batting at a steady rate so far, switched gears after the 30th over. Both batsmen released a torrent of sixes. Bairstow, who had fallen on 94 in the previous ODI, got his 11th ton. Stokes hit three successive sixes in one Kuldeep Yadav over and then took 28 off Krunal Pandya in the next.
Stokes was unfortunate to fall on 99 (52) as Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided the breakthrough but by then England needed less than 60 runs to win in 14 overs. He had taken just 12 balls to go from 50 to 99.
India tried to wrestle their way in with Krishna removing Bairstow (124) and Buttler (0) in the same over. But it was too little, too late.
Debutant Liam Livingstone (27*) and Dawid Malan (16*) easily scored the remaining runs as England won by six wickets and 39 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, England asked India to bat first after Buttler won the toss – a decision that backfired after the hosts put up 336/6 in their 50 overs. It was a superb bowling performance with the middle order combining together to overpower the English bowlers.
India were initially dealt a huge blow when their first match star Shikhar Dhawan (4) was dismissed by Reece Topley inside five overs. Dhawan chased after a ball outside off and ended up edging it to Stokes at second slip. At the other end, Rohit Sharma hit a few brilliant shots to the boundary but failed to capitalise as he fell to Sam Curran in the ninth over for 25.
It was then that India’s fortunes took a turn. KL Rahul joined Virat Kohli at the crease and the duo began rebuilding India’s innings. They were steady and measured at the beginning, pouncing on the bad balls but otherwise cautious in their approach.
To add to the bowlers’ frustrations, Kohli was dropped on 35 by Buttler off Adil Rashid. The lifeline only spurred the India captain to power on as he soon brought up his 62nd ODI fifty. The century-stand between the batsmen was also brought up in the 29th over.
Rashid, though, had the last laugh as he finally got his man caught behind on 66 with Buttler making sure that he did not repeat the same mistake twice. India’s momentum, however, did not falter. Rishabh Pant played the perfect partner to Rahul and unleashed a flurry of shots. Twice he won the battle against DRS – first for a lbw and then for a caught behind. The chances brought out the aggression. He slammed Stokes for back to back sixes in the 41st over and continued to plunder runs allowing Rahul to play his natural game as well.
The Karnataka batsman brought up his fifth ODI ton; his second fifty-plus score in the series. He fell soon after he brought up the milestone. Wickets made no difference to India’s scoring rate as Hardik Pandya walked in and thwacked a monstrous six off his first ball.
India made 63 runs in their last five overs with Pandya scoring a quick-fire 16-ball 35.
