Pune: England stamped their authority after going behind beating India by six wickets in a run fest in the second ODI in Pune on Friday. Johny Bairstow’s 112-ball 124 coupled with Ben Stokes 52-ball 99 help the hosts to level the series 1-1 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
This was after KL Rahul (108) and Rishav Pant (77) powered India to 336/6 wickets. With series now set up nicely for both the sides to come out for series decider on Sunday at the same venue.
England win the 2nd @Paytm #INDvENG ODI by six wickets & level the series. #TeamIndia will be looking to make amends & win the decider to seal a series win.
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/RrLvC29Iwg pic.twitter.com/LY19wyB1zN
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 26, 2021
Chasing a mammoth total of 337, England put faith on their free flowing fearless approach as Bairstow and Jason Roy again started the innings with a bang accumulating 110 for the opening wicket in before the latter got dismissed for 55.
Stokes joined in next and completely changed the dynamics of the game. Along with Bairstow, the burly all-rounders added 175 runs for within the next 20 overs shattering Virat Kohli’s side’s hopes to get the game close to their reach but was really unfortunate falling just a single short of a deserving century.
However, Bairstow went one step further bringing up his tenth ODI hundred. Although Prasidh Krishna got rid of the swashbuckling him shortly after that but the damage was already done. A lackluster Indian bowlers at times looked clueless leaking runs at a pace. Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone comfortably sealed deal for England.
Earlier, India were shaky at the start losing both their openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan after being asked to bat by England who won the toss. Virat Kohli along with Rahul started the rebuilding process steadily before the Indian skipper was dismissed for a well made 66. Pant on his return the ODI scene played a gem of 77 off 40 packed with seven 6’s and three 4’s.
Together with Rahul who eventually brought up fifth ODI century added 113 runs for the fourth wicket boosting India’s opportunity put on a big score before they both fell in the trap of Tom Curran. Hardik Pandya’s quick fire 16 ball 35 send India to 336/6 in 50 overs.
Reece Topley (2/50) and Sam Curran (1/47) were the only among the bowler who showcased a bit of resilience along with Moeen Ali who despite going wicketless was quite economic giving away just 47 runs in his full quota.
