‘Root’ cause of Indian defeat
England crush visitors by 86 runs to level ODI series
England dominated with both bat and ball to defeat India by 86 runs in the second One-Day International (ODI) at Lord's here on Saturday.
Having posted a total of 322/7 in their 50 overs, England proceeded to dismiss the visitors for 236 runs.
The hosts have now levelled the three-match series at 1-1. India had thrashed England by eight wickets in the series opener.
The only bright spot for India was the fact that former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni reached two personal milestones during the game by completing 10,000 runs and 300 catches.
The veteran star joined Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid as the only Indians reach the 10,000-run mark in ODIs.
Dhoni is currently on 10,004 ODI runs. Sachin tops the list among Indians with 18,426 runs, Ganguly is second with 11,221 while Dravid is third at 10,768.
Chasing a challenging target, the Indian innings never really gathered any sustained momentum as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
The incisive England bowling was completed by some poor shot selection by the Indian batsmen which saw the visitors struggling at 60/3 in the 11th over.
The bit of resistance by the visitors was produced by skipper Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, who came up with a fighting partnership of 80 runs off 97 deliveries.
But once Moeen Ali had broken the stand by clinching the prized wicket of Kohli, it was all downhill for the Indians.
Soon Adil Rashid bowled Raina, who top scored for India with 46 runs.
Pacer Liam Plunkett, who was in superb form, was the most successful among the England bowlers with figures of 4/46.
Earlier, Joe Root returned to form with a classy century, his 12th of career, to steer England to a competitive 322 for seven against India in their must-win second ODI at Lord’s here on Saturday.
Root scored an unbeaten 113 off 116 balls while skipper Eoin Morgan (53 off 51 balls) and all-rounder David Willey (50 no off 31 balls) contributed with useful half-centuries as England crossed the 300-run mark after opting to bat in the penultimate match of the three-match series.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was again the most successful bowler for India with figures of 3 for 68 while Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya picked up a wicket apiece.
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.