The second One-Day International should have been a near contest after India set England a mark of 337 runs thanks to KL Rahul’s century and Rishabh Pant’s 77-run blitz. Instead, England cruised to victory, winning by 6.3 overs and six wickets with plenty of time to spare. Jonny Bairstow smashed a quickfire 112-ball 124 for the hosts, but it was Ben Stokes’ brutal assault on the Indian bowling attack that ensured England didn’t slip up from a winning spot for the second time in the season, drawing the series level at 1-1.
England’s openers got them off to a strong start once again, with Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow continuing their good form from the previous game.
Roy hit his half-century despite being dismissed twice in his forties in the T20 International series and the first ODI.
India’s bowlers seemed to have no responses for England’s openers, and it took a mix-up and a superb piece of fielding from Rohit Sharma for the hosts to get a foothold, with Roy being run out for 55 off 52 balls, putting a 110-run stand to an end.
If India had hoped that the wicket would change their fortunes, they were in for a rude awakening.
To absolutely take the game away from India, Stokes and Bairstow put on a 175-run stand off just 117 deliveries. Bairstow, who was dismissed for 93 in the first match, did not disappoint, scoring his 11th ODI century.
Coming in at number three, Stokes took on the Indian bowlers, especially the spinners, smashing 99 off 52 deliveries.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught him just a run shy of a well-deserved century, but the damage had already been done. At that point, England just needed 50 points from 83 deliveries.
If Pant’s 40-ball 77 was impressive, Stokes’ knock was the perfect retaliation. Before he was dismissed, the all-rounder hit 10 sixes and four boundaries to bring England within striking distance of victory.
After Stokes was sent back, Prasidh Krishna dismissed Bairstow and Jos Buttler in the next over, giving the hosts hope of an unexpected return. However, the asking rate had dropped to just over 3 runs per over, and debutant Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan ensured there were no more hiccups for the visitors.
