England showed and proved why it is the reigning world champion and the number one One-Day International team after scripting a six-wicket win in the second ODI at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Friday. It was wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow's century, along with all-rounder Ben Stokes' 99, that played the central role in the win, as the final game on Sunday is now a decider.
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Winning the toss, English skipper Jos Buttler elected to bowl first, as he made three changes to the side, with a couple being injury-forced. As for India, Kohli made just a change, that too being injury-forced.
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The openers were off to a shaky start, as with just nine runs on the board, Shikhar Dhawan departed for a mere four off pacer Reece Topley after being caught by Ben Stokes at the slips in the fourth over. It was 28 runs later when fellow opener Rohit Sharma fell for just 25 to pacer Sam Curran after being taken by Adil Rashid at fine leg in the ninth over.
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The pair of Kohli and wicketkeeper-batsman Rahul took charge, contributing to a 121-run stand for the third wicket. During this process, Kohli brought up his 25th ODI half-century, while Rahul scored his 12th.
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Nonetheless, in the 32nd over, Kohli was dismissed for 66 after being cheekily caught behind by Buttler off spinner Rashid. It was yet again followed by a remarkable 131-run stand for the fourth wicket between Rahul and Pant, while Rahul brought up his fifth ODI ton in the process.
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Anyway, Rahul could not last long after his century and fell for 108 to pacer Tom Curran, caught by Topley in the 45th over, at 271. Meanwhile, Pant and all-rounder Hardik Pandya ensured that India went past the 300-run mark before the former departed for 77 off Tom after being caught by Jason Roy at third man.
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The pair of Pandya and Krunal contributed 26 before the former fell for 35 to Topley after being caught by Roy at long-off in the final over. Nevertheless, India managed to finish at a respectable total of 3366.
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As for the English bowlers, six were utilised. While Tom and Topley attained the most success, spinner Moeen Ali was the most economical of all.
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As England came out to bat, the openers were off to a flying start, just like the last game, contributing to a 110-run opening stand, with Roy scoring his 19th ODI half-century. However, it was in the 17th over when Roy was run out for 55.
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While India looked to capitalise on the breakthrough, it turned out to be the complete opposite, as the pair of opener Bairstow and Stokes just ripped apart the Indian bowling attack. It followed a monstrous 165-run stand for the second wicket, as Bairstow scored his 15th ODI 50, followed by Stokes' 21st half-century.
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It was during this course when Bairstow also brought up his 11th ODI ton. However, at 285, Stokes departed a run short of his fourth ODI century after being caught behind by Pant off seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 36th over.
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Suddenly, England lost a couple of quick wickets, as in the 37th over, pacer Prasidh Krishna got rid of Bairstow for 124 after being caught by Kohli at covers. In the same over, he dismissed wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler for a duck, bowling him up, as the score read 2874.
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Nonetheless, it hardly made a difference. Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone's final pair contributed to a 49-run stand to see the match out for England, thus winning emphatically by six wickets within 43.3 overs.
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As for the Indians, five bowlers were utilised, with Krishna being the most effective and economical. Meanwhile, spinner Krunal was the most expensive, giving away 72 in six overs.Brief scores: India 3366 (Kohli 66, Rahul 108, Pant 77; Topley 250) lost to England 3374 in 43.3 overs (Roy 55, Bairstow 124, Stokes 99; Krishna 258) by six wickets.
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