London, July 14: India's famed batting line-up faltered in a competitive chase after Joe Root returned to form with a classy century to guide England to a series-levelling 86-run win in the second ODI of the three-match rubber at Lord's here on Saturday (July 14).
By virtue of this win, England have levelled the series 1-1 after India had won the first ODI by eight wickets at Nottingham. The series-deciding final ODI will be played at Leeds on July 17.
Dhoni completes 10000 ODI Runs
England captain Eoin Morgan was bang on target with the toss as he decided to bat first after winning the toss on a wicket that slowed down as time passed by. Root responded to his captain's call and returned to form with a classy 113 off 166 balls, his 12th century of career, to steer England to a competitive 322 for seven.
He was ably supported by skipper Morgan (53 off 51 balls) and all-rounder David Willey (50 no off 31 balls). Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/68) was again the most successful bowler while Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya picked up a wicket apiece. But India never got going while chasing the target.
India cannot be happy with that chase ... almost as if they decided to have an afternoon middle practice after around 30 overs ... for such a formidable Batting line up that can’t be right ... #ENGvIND #Lords
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 14, 2018
Barring an 80-run fourth wicket stand between skipper Virat Kohli (45) and Suresh Raina (46), all other batsmen struggled as the visitors were bundled out for 236. Rohit Sharma (15) and Shikhar Dhawan (36) shared 49 runs for the opening stand before both perished in successive overs to put India on the back foot.
KL Rahul too failed to get going, departing for a duck edging his second delivery to Jos Buttler behind the stumps off Plunkett's bowling in the 11th over. Thereafter, Kohli and Raina raised visions of a victory, stitching 80 runs for the fourth wicket but that was not to be as both perished in quick succession to hurt India's cause.
First time in seven years that India have failed to hit a six when batting full 50 overs in an ODI. Last time it was against Pakistan in the semi-final at Mohali. #EngvInd
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) July 14, 2018
While Kohli was adjudged LBW to Moeen Ali, Raina was cleaned up by leg-spinner Adil Rashid few overs later. From there on, it was a difficult task for the rest of batsmen and veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni (37) too struggled to rotate the strike scoring his runs off 59 balls.
Dhoni's innings was a struggle from the word go as he tried to rebuild the chase in the company of Hardik Pandya (21) and the tail which never materialised. Plunkett picked up four wicket for England giving away 46 runs, while Willey (2/48) and Rashid (2/38) shared four wickets between them.
Dhoni getting booed at Lord's for a 59-ball 37 at the same venue where Sunil Gavaskar scored an unbeaten 36 off 174-balls in a run chase. #ENGvIND
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) July 14, 2018
Earlier, Jason Roy (40) and Jonny Bairstow (38) provided a quick start to England's innings as they put on 69 for the opening wicket off 62 balls. Umesh (1/63) and Siddarth Kaul found some swing with the new ball, but failed to provide early breakthroughs.
As the openers started to play more shots and boundaries flowed, India brought on Hardik Pandya (1/70) into the attack in only the fifth over.
MS Dhoni completed his 10000 runs in one-day internationals today and he is the ONLY ONE to reach this mark with 50+ average, but don't think he would like to remember this innings at all.#INDvENG #ENGvIND
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) July 14, 2018
The move didn't yield any result as the all-rounder was taken for 21 runs in his first two-over spell. Chahal (1/43) was then introduced into the attack in the ninth over, followed by Kuldeep two overs later and the latter struck with his second ball in the 11th over.
‘Kuldeep’the nemesis of England arrives ! #INDvENG
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 14, 2018
Kuldeep bowled Bairstow as the batsman went for a sweep and the ball hit the stumps after ricocheting off his pads. England were then reduced to 86 for 2 as Kuldeep picked up his second wicket in 12 balls as Roy was caught in the deep trying to clear the fence.
This total lack of intent from a side that aspires to be number one side in all three formats of the game is simply baffling.#INDvENG #ENGvIND
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) July 14, 2018
It was an unnecessary shot, much like his reverse sweep at Trent Bridge, which had triggered a collapse. But this time, Root and Morgan countered Kuldeep's threat in the middle overs with some sensible shot selection.
They rotated the strike and looked to pick up the odd boundary in between. In doing so they added 103 runs off 99 balls for the third wicket which put England back in contention for a 300-plus score. After the initial setbacks, the hosts crossed 150 in the 25th over.
Strong performance from England cricket today ... good comeback .. seem to be getting the hang of wrist spinners
— David 'Bumble' Lloyd (@BumbleCricket) July 14, 2018
Morgan scored his 38th ODI half-century off 49 balls, while Root reached his fifty off 56 balls. But Kuldeep came back into the attack as the visitors searched for a wicket and duly delivered when Morgan was holed out in the deep of a full toss.
Even as 200 came up in the 33rd over, England slumped from 189 for 2 to 203 for 4 in the 34th over. Umesh and Pandya provided a double blow in the form of Ben Stokes (5) and in-form Jos Buttler (4), both of whom were caught behind the wicket by Dhoni, who became the fourth wicketkeeper to complete 300 ODI catches after Adam Gilchrist (417), Mark Boucher (403) and Kumar Sangakkara (402).
Yup. I don’t understand what India have been playing at here. Very odd. https://t.co/DIn92GU4hX
— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) July 14, 2018
Chahal bowled a tight seven-over spell in this passage of play as England lost 3 wickets for 40 runs in the penultimate 10 overs. Moeen Ali (13) tried to break the shackles, but only managed to hole out off Chahal in the 42nd over with Rohit taking a fine catch.
Willey then joined Root in the middle and together they turned the tables, scoring 82 runs in the last eight overs to propel their score.
As it happened:
It's all over! Chahal is the final wicket to perish on the final delivery of the match which was one of the most bizarre run chase one could ever come across. India lost the intent to win perhaps too early and England have won this match quite convincingly by a margin of 86 runs. The series is levelled 1-1. The deciding third ODI will now be played at Headingley on Tuesday.
Wicket! Siddharth Kaul departs for 1 as he's trapped in front by Liam Plunkett. India are 9 down now and the pacer grabs a four-fer now.
Disappointing batting by India.
Disappointing batting by India. True, target was difficult, but diffident attempt to chase it down. Dhoni lost interest surprisingly early. Story of the day, however, is India were stuffed by the spin of Moeen Ali and Rashid Ali. Just desserts the English might say!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 14, 2018
Wicket! MS Dhoni's bizarre innings comes to an end as he's caught in the deep by Stokes while attempting the first aggressive shot of the innings. Departs for 37 off Plunkett. India 8 down.
India reach 213/7 after 45 overs against England. The visitors have given up hope even as MS Dhoni is present at the crease. He never looked in a mood to up the ante from the moment he stepped into the field.
That's 10,000 ODI runs for MS Dhoni as he becomes fourth Indian to achieve this feat after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
Wicket! Umesh Yadav departs for a duck as he's stumped by Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid gets second wicket. India lose another wicket in a gap of 3 balls. India: 192/7 in 39.3 overs.
Wicket! Hardik Pandya's stint at the crease comes to an end as Jos Buttler takes another brilliant catch behind the wickets to give Liam Plunkett his second success. It was the last batting pair. India: 191/6 after 39 overs.
India have reached 187/5 after 38 overs. They require another 136 runs from 72 deliveries to win this game. The asking rate has climbed over 11.55.
The runs have dried up for India as both the English spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have strangulated the flow of runs and the required rate has climbed over 10. The pitch has got slower and harder to bat on as the match has progressed and India have conceded too many runs to to chase down. It now seems batting second on the surface wasn't easy and Morgan was spot on with his decision.
Wicket! Another well set batsman departs for India. Suresh Raina is clean bowled by Adil Rashid for 46 and half of the Indian side in back into the pavilion in the run chase. Raina was looking to go after Rashid but failed to read the wrong'un from the leg-spinner which castled into the stumps. Seems the match is in the grip of the hosts now as they still have a mountain to climb.
Wicket! Virat Kohli departs for 45 as he's trapped plumb in front by Moeen Ali. Could this be the game changing scalp for England? The Indian batting hasn't been tested on the tour and this could give the hosts an opportunity to outplay the visitors. They are 140/4 after 27 overs.
Half-way mark! India have reached 132/3 after 25 overs and they require another 191 runs to win this game. The required rate has climbed up to 7.65 per over. Will Kohli and Raina up the ante now?
India reach 119/3 after 23 overs and the asking rate has climbed up to 7.55/over. England have kept things tight for Kohli and Raina as just 15 runs came from the last 5 overs.
India have reached 109/3 after 20 overs against England. 53-run stand between Kohli and Raina for the fourth wicket. The asking rate has climbed over 7 per over now.
India reach 90/3 after 16 overs. Kohli-Raina are trying to revive the visitors after the flurry of wickets (Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul). England, however, had crossed triple-figure mark by the 16th over.
12 runs came from the first over bowled by Ben Stokes as India reach 82/3 after 14 overs. Kohli-Raina are present at the crease as they chase 323.
3rd Wicket down and in quick succession. KL Rahul (0) edges Liam Plunkett and Jos Buttler takes a brilliant reflex catch as he stretches towards his left. India: 60/3, they are in a spot of bother in the run chase of 323.
Wicket! And Shikhar Dhawan gifts his wicket away after getting to another solid start. He departs for 36 and India are two down in the run chase.
Bowled! The centurion of last match Rohit Sharma departs cheaply for 15 and he's himself to blame for that. He was charging down the track to hit the bowler but misses it completely. Mark Wood gets the much needed breakthrough for England. India: 49/1.
India reach 45/0 after 7 overs against England as they chase 323. Shikhar Dhawan is looking in sublime form. He must convert the good start into a big knock.
Start of India's innings! Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma open the innings for the visitors as they come out to chase 323 against England.
Wicket on the final delivery but England have managed to post 322/7 in stipulated 50 overs against India. They have accumulated 94 runs off the last 10 overs and credit for that goes to David Willey's blistering knock. This is going to a stiff target for India in the run chase.
David Willey slams a fifty off 30 deliveries and this one came at the right time. This is the fastest ODI half-century against India.
Hundred! Joe Root notches up a sensational ton off 109 deliveries. He's come back to form and in what way? Stood tall when the team needed him the most and England have also breached the 300-run mark. This is Root's 12th ODI ton and 1st at the Lord's.
1,1,0,4,4,1! After bowling three good deliveries Umesh Yadav ends up conceding two boundaries off Willey and England are scoring quickly in the death overs. India are certainly missing their death over specialists i.e. Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah.
17 runs leaked by Siddharth Kaul from his 7th over and England reach 281/6. He's conceded 51 runs from 7 overs so far. Not the best of outings for the youngster.
Four! And this brings up 250 for England. Joe Root is nearing his ton as he moves into 90s.
Wicket! Moeen Ali departs for 13 after Rohit Sharma takes a brilliant running catch. He had to cover a lot of ground and take the catch. Yuzvendra Chahal gets his first wicket of the match. England lose their sixth for 240/.
Wicket! And MS Dhoni takes another catch behind the stumps to get rid of Jos Buttler for 4. England 214/5 after 36.3 overs.