Pune, March 26: Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes displayed some incredible hittings as England thrashed India by six wickets in the second ODI in Pune on Friday (March 26) and levelled the three-match series 1-all.
Chasing a mammoth target of 337 in stipulated 50 overs, England raced home in 43.3 overs for the loss of four wickets. Jonny Bairstow (125) and Ben Stokes (99) displayed some incredible hittings and their partnership of 175 runs for the second wicket took the match away from the hosts' grip.
Bairstow - who slammed his 11th ODI hundred - along with Stokes, showed why they are hailed as one of the biggest hitters of the white-ball as they took every Indian bowler on remand. Jason Roy (55) once again forged a century stand with his opening partner as the duo added the thirteenth century stand between them.
England suffered a mini-collapse as Stokes, Bairstow, and Jos Buttler were dismissed in a gap of nine deliveries but the damage was already being done. Dawid Malan (16*) and debutant Liam Livingstone (27*) took their team home with 39 balls to spare to pull off their biggest-ever run chase in India.
Earlier in the day, KL Rahul's century, Virat Kohli fifty and Rishabh Pant's blazing 77 took India to 336/6. Rahul followed up a fifty in the first ODI with a 108 off 114 balls in the second ODI and shared century stands with Kohli (66 off 79 balls) and Pant (77 off 40 balls) to take the hosts to a huge total at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Put in to bat, India struggled early doors losing openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma for 4 and 25 respectively. Then, Kohli combined with Rahul to add a 121 run stand before the skipper, who got a life earlier in the innings, was dismissed by Adil Rashid for the ninth time in international cricket.
Later, Rahul and Pant joined hands for a 113-run-stand before the former was dismissed by Tom Curran, who ended with 2 for 83 in his 10 overs. In the end, Hardik Pandya's cameo and quickfire stands with Pant and later with his brother Krunal Pandya took India to a massive score.
Here's how the 2nd ODI between India and England panned out:
What made the difference? The spinners getting hammered for 150-plus runs.
India's spinners (Kuldeep and Krunal) today: 16-0-156-0.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) March 26, 2021
DONE AND DUSTED IN STYLE!!! ENGLAND HAMMER INDIA BY 6 WICKETS IN MAMMOTH RUN CHASE OF 337. THE SERIES HAS BEEN LEVELLED 1-1.
No ball and a boundary in bye! 5 runs rewarded to England.
2 runs conceded by Prasidh Krishna from that over. England reach 330/4 in 43 overs. 7 needed to win.
Irfan Pathan on Indian spinners' poor show in the series!
Winning n losing is a part of the game but team India’s serious concern is spin department in one day cricket at the moment. #INDvENG
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 26, 2021
SIX, SIX!!! Liam Livingstone welcomes Bhuvneshwar Kumar with back-to-back maximums. The first one was hit over mid-on and the second one was pulled over mid-wicket.
300 comes up for England in the run chase.
Four! Kuldeep Yadav has been welcomed by Liam Livingstone with a boundary.
7 runs came from that over bowled by Krunal Pandya. England reach 295/4 in 38 overs.
Wicket! Jos Buttler is cleaned up by a brilliant yorker from Prasidh Krishna. The England skipper departs for a duck. Two big wickets for the young pacer in this over. England - 287/4 in 37.4 overs.
Wicket! Jonny Bairstow hits Prasidh Krishna and the ball goes straight into the hands of Virat Kohli. A fine innings of 124 off 112 balls comes to an end. England - 287/3 in 36.1 overs.
We have witnessed some incredible hitting from Ben Stokes! He took just 11 deliveries to move from 50 to 99.
Ben Stokes out on 99 off 52 balls. He reached 50 off 40 balls. The next 49 runs came off just 12 balls! #IndvEng
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) March 26, 2021
Wicket! UNLUCKY!!! Ben Stokes dismissed for 99, he's caught behind by Rishabh Pant off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He certainly deserved a century. England - 285/2 in 35.2 overs.
Four! Ben Stokes gets a boundary as a valiant effort from Rohit Sharma goes in vain as he couldn't stop it, and the batsman moves on to 99*.
England reach 282/1 in 35 overs, they are cruising comfortably in this run chase.
Free-Hit delivery and Jonny Bairstow hits Prasidh Krishna over cover region for a maximum.
28 runs leaked by Krunal Pandya from that over and Ben Stokes moves into the 90s in no time! He's putting up a display of some incredible power-hitting at the moment. 10 sixes from him already. England - 266/1 in 34 overs.
SIX!! Stokes is only dealing in sixes at the moment. He's slogging it out.
England reach 238/1 in 33 overs. It seems they'll finish it within 45 overs.
SIX, SIX, SIX!! A hat-trick of maximums from Stokes off Kuldeep Yadav. He's toying with the chinaman now.
That's quite a statement from Bairstow!
Jonny Bairstow has now scored 11 ODI hundreds.
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) March 26, 2021
Only one of them has been reached off more than 100 balls!#INDvENG #ENGvIND
Four! Powerfully struck and Bairstow gets another boundary off Shardul towards mid-wicket. He takes a single on the final delivery of the over. England reach 218/1 in 32 overs, they need 119 more runs to win this match.
Jonny Bairstow's ODI record really is quite something. Averaging 49.31 and scoring at 6.3rpo - his record compares very favourably with the best we've seen. #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/qN55dXATkt
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) March 26, 2021
Fifty! Ben Stokes gets to his fifty with a quick single off Thakur. He's taken just 40 deliveries to get to his 21st half-century.
100-run-partnership between Stokes and Bairstow for the second wicket. 17 runs came from that Kuldeep Yadav over. England reach 211/1 after 31 overs.
SIX!! This time it is Ben Stokes as he hits Kuldeep straight over his head for a maximum.
100!!! Jonny Bairstow hits Kuldeep Yadav for a biggie and he gets to his 11th ODI CENTURY in style!! Superb innings from the English opener.
Four! Ben Stokes slashes the away going delivery bowled from Shardul and he gets a boundary on the first delivery.
SIX!! Bairstow hammers Kuldeep over long-on and the ball sails miles back into the stands. He moves into 90s.
5 runs came from Bhuvneshwar's over. England reach 180/1 in 28 overs. Bairstow - 87* & Stokes - 33* have stitched a partnership of 70 runs between them.
Four! Jonny Bairstow welcomes Bhuvneshwar with a boundary towards straight mid-off. He's been batting superbly and nears a ton, should get to the three-figure mark in this match.