INDIA VS ENGLAND ,2ND ODI, BARABATI STADIUM , CUTTACK : Rohit Sharma’s Master Class Century Leads India to ODI Series Win Against England By 2-0 .
Rohit Sharma starred with a sensational century as India sailed through England by 4 wickets in the 2nd ODI to clinch the three-match series on Sunday. Jadeja took 3 for 35 but England scored 304 all out after deciding to bat first. What ensued was a marvellous display from Rohit as the India captain then ended a long wait for runs and did so in style in the second innings. On the way, Rohit scored 119 runs in 90 balls including 12 fours and 7 sixes. He scored his 32nd ODI century in the process, going past Rahul Dravid for most international tons by an India batter. Sitting now in third is Rohit, who trails only Virat Kohli (81) and Sachin Tendulkar (100). With this knock, Rohit surpassed Chris Gayle on the list of batters with most sixes in ODI cricket. The Indian captain position with the 332 total. Chris Gayle is next up with 331. Shahid Afridi, with 351 sixes, tops the list. Rohit Sharma’s Master Class Century Leads India to ODI Series Win Against England By 2-0 .
TOSS-
England won the toss and chose to bat.
TEAMS LINE UP-
India Squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
England Squad:
Philip Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood
ENGLAND-
In contrast to their display in opening ODI, England drew to make much better showing with bat. Joe Root (69) and Ben Duckett (65) provided contrasting fifties and they were followed by a Liam Livingstone (41) cameo, propelling England through after Phil Salt was unable to convert another opportunity in the series. The visitors did get off to another rapid start in the first ten overs, as they did in Nagpur, only to slow down against India’s spinners. It was Varun Chakaravarthy, on ODI debut, who broke the stand by prising out Salt. He applied the brakes to the scoring but it was Jadeja who proved trickiest to shake for England’s batters.
The left-arm spinner bowled well, mixed up the pace and lengths and got the odd ball to hold up with grip and turn to thwart the batters. His individual battle with Duckett was equally threaded through that game as the left-handed opener’s attempts to tame the spinner ultimately ended in his downfall. It also meant that Jadeja as well as fellow left-arm spinner Axar could bowl to the right-handed England middle-order without any concerns. Brook found it hard for momentum but he did knit a valuable stand of 66 with Root who was the linchpin the innings revolved around. In fact, the rewards for India were taken by its quicks as the spinners choked the flow of runs so much.
Harshit Rana also gave away a few boundaries to Brook but like in the fourth T20I, ultimately had the last laugh with a clever slower ball that Gill took with a brilliant diving effort at mid-off. Soon after, Buttler became the second wicket to fall to a pacer, this time Pandya, after being tied down nicely by the spinners. In the midst of all this Root batted with confidence to keep one end up. Livingstone and Root stitched together a handy partnership as England seemed to be gunning for a score in excess of the 320-run mark. But Rohit’s gambit of keeping his spin back till the last 10 proved a masterstroke as Jadeja took Root’s scalp in his second last over.
He had the left-arm spinner Jamie Overton caught off the last ball of his spell to some terrible shot selection from the all-rounder. And this meant that England risked collapsing one more time on this tour. Livingstone, though, batted deep and also hit a few big ones at the back end to push visitors’ total. Rashid then took the pressure off further with three boundaries in a row off Mohammed Shami, making sure the labour of Root and Duckett didn’t go to waste completely. The tourists, however, should have batted with a bit more game awareness than what the 320-330 range would indicate.
INDIA-
At the halfway stage, England’s 304 seemed a tricky total on a slow black-soil pitch with the occasional ball stopping off the hard length. It wasn’t easy to get spinners or off-pace deliveries away. However, like black-soil surfaces, batting under lights is generally on the easier side. At least, that’s how Rohit made it look as he took off the blocks in a flash. Two sixes, the first over deep square leg, the second over deep cover made it clear the captain was going to have a night to remember. His aggression gave Gill time to settle down even if the latter also played some exquisite strokes.
India scored 77 for none in the first ten overs, and it was the start of all that followed in the chase. Even as the outer ring opened up, runs continued to come for both openers, Rohit especially. He also surpassed Chris Gayle during his excellent knock to go to no.2 in the all-time six hitters list in ODIs. There was a bit of turn on offer for Adil Rashid but by the time he came on, Rohit and Gill were so assured that they handled him with aplomb. The ball also didn’t quite hold off the pitch like it had when England batted during the afternoon.
It took something special to end the openers’ charge and Jamie Overton provided it with a searing yorker. Just a ball earlier, he had been pulverized over mid-wicket with a savage pull stroke from Gill and then the all-rounder had beaten the Indian vice-captain tailor made with a beaut. It brought Virat Kohli to the crease but hit the veteran no.3 for an offday at the office. He did hit a glorious on-drive for four but was all at sea against Rashid’s leggies. Eventually one found the edge, England reviewing successfully for the breakthrough.
It was a small period of play when the visitors would have gained a little belief in getting back into the match. But deep was the abyss India had to dig into the chase to, that Rohit crashed and Shreyas Iyer too had the luxury of a few overs of being ultra-cautious. The duo also scored 70 together at a good clip, in just 66-ball, with Rohit still proving to be the dominant partner. The duo threatened to wrap up the chase without any further damage before Dhawan donated his wicket.
Having hit the ball well and even scooping good balls to the boundary, Rohit fell to a full toss, mistiming a shot to mid-wicket after stepping out to take it on the full. It was a gift on which Liam Livingstone capitalised but it just came a touch too late in the game for England’s liking. Iyer built on this with Axar as they propped up India’s charge with the former falling to a daft run out that was the result of awful communication. KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya departed as India approached the target but there was never any doubt about the outcome. Axar, along with Ravindra Jadeja, sealed the match with 33 balls remaining.
Brief scores:
England 304 in 49.5 overs (Joe Root 69, Ben Duckett 65; Ravindra Jadeja 3-35) lost to India 308/6 in 44.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 119, Shubman Gill 60; Jamie Overton 2-27) by four wickets.