Kuldeep’s 6-wicket haul restricts England to 268
NOTTINGHAM: A listless England were hurtling towards defeat in the opening match of the one-day series at Trent Bridge on Thursday. In stark contrast to their dazzling show against Australia in their last game here, it was a day when nothing went right for the home team.
After Kuldeep Yadav again exposed England’s limitations against spin bowling to bundle them out for 268, Rohit Sharma (batting 75, 65 balls) and Virat Kohli (batting 52, 58 balls) cashed in on the easy conditions to take India to 169 for one after 25 overs.
After picking a five-wicket haul in the first T20 at Old Trafford, Kuldeep again terrorised the batsmen with his bag of tricks to claim a six-wicket haul (10-025-6). It was an embarrassment for Eoin Morgan’s men with only Jos Buttler shining. Once he was out for 53, the rest of the innings caved in and after being put into bat, England were all out for 268 in 49.5 overs. Perhaps the best example of England’s struggles was Ben Stokes’ innings. The allrounder earned the dubious distinction of scoring his slowest half-century, 50 in 102 balls.
POOR RESPONSE
In stark contrast to India’s inspired bowling effort, the England players bowled like profligate billionaires to allow India an easy start to their chase. Shikhar Dhawan was fed with a series of loose balls on the leg-side and the left-handed batsman helped himself to eight easy boundaries. He set the tone for India’s chase by taking three fours off the second over.
The opener threw it away when he needlessly gave the charge to spinner Moeen Ali to be out for 40 (27 balls). But Rohit and Virat were in cracking form, exhibiting the full range of their strokes without taking risks.
The Nottingham crowd had come in droves in the hope of witnessing a batting feast after England’s world record feat in their last game here, against Australia, a few weeks ago. Instead, they were treated to a scintillating show of subcontinental spin.
Leg-spin, sliders and googlies at different speeds and trajectories were all on display as Kuldeep mesmerised the batsmen. He was well supported by leggie Yuzvendra Chahal (10-0-51-1).
Kohli unleashed Kuldeep immediately after the first powerplay. With India desperate to break the opening partnership, Yadav struck in his first over, Jason Roy mistiming a reversesweep to be caught at point. In his next over, he picked Joe Root and Bairstow off successive balls. It was a dramatic collapse from 73/0 to 82/3 inside three overs.
Brief scores (incomplete) England 268 in 49.5 overs (J Buttler 53, B Stokes 50, Kuldeep 6/25)