India wins by four wickets and seals ODI Series
Rohit Sharma’s outstanding century made sure that the 305-run mark never appeared too far off, even if India lost its last three wickets for 28 runs. After Rohit and Shubman Gill scored 136 runs for the first wicket, England rallied and once again dismissed Virat Kohli cheaply.
Nevertheless, Rohit and Shreyas Iyer teamed up to put India in a position to win. Axar Patel kept India on track for victory even after Rohit fell. Even though India has struggled in the last two games of this ODI series with a rush of wickets in the closing stages of the contest, this victory was still very comprehensive.
Rohit was in his typical form with the bat during the knock; his fluid strokes, deft wrist placement, and flawless timing gave the fans what they paid for. In the second over, Rohit, chasing 305, got off to a fast start when he got a thick edge off Gus Atkinson that flew over backward point for four. After that, Rohit’s performance took a spectacular turn as he carved Saqib Mahmood for a maximum and flicked Atkinson off his wrists for a six.
Shubman Gill was flawless from the other end, collecting two boundaries with his signature flick and short-arm punch over the in-field. Gill got one to soar over the outside edge for a boundary after Rohit skillfully used his hands to lift Mahmood over long-off for six.
After play was halted for thirty-five minutes due to a floodlight failure above the far-off fence, Rohit returned in a commanding manner, glancing at Mahmood over fine leg for four before hitting a six over long-on. Before breaking through point for another boundary to reach his fifty in just thirty balls, he greeted Adil Rashid with a sweep going for four.
Following the conclusion of the power play, Gill short arm-jabbed and pulled Mark Wood four boundaries after slog-sweeping Rashid for six. Before achieving a fantastic 15th ODI fifty, Gill continued to find extra cover fence twice for boundaries after Rashid returned.
After hitting his century, Rohit didn’t slow down; he reverse-swept, looked at Rashid for fours, and then carved wood over the backward point for another boundary. Rohit toe-ended a slog to short mid-wicket off a full toss from Liam Livingstone and left for 119 off 90 balls after Iyer lashed and pulled thrice to earn two fours and a six off Wood.
Iyer and Axar Patel slowed down a little when Rohit left, with the latter smacking the boundaries. However, Iyer was run out for 44 on the final ball of the 37th over after a mix-up in pursuit of a second run, which caused India to falter a little.
KL Rahul gave Salt a glove edge behind him after attempting to pull a short ball from Overton and falling for 10. After hitting two fours off Atkinson, Hardik Pandya dragged the bowler to mid-wicket. However, Axar and Jadeja made sure India crossed the finish line, with the latter hitting a beautiful inside-out cover drive for four to give the hosts a decisive victory.
Prior to this, England amassed a massive 304 in 49.5 overs, despite losing their final seven wickets for 85 runs, thanks to brilliant scores of 69 and 65 from Joe Root and 65 from Ben Duckett, respectively, and 41 from Liam Livingstone. Jadeja was India’s outstanding batsman, taking 3-35 in his 10 overs while maintaining an economy rate below four.
Duckett chose to bat first and was immediately at his best, giving England a strong start to their innings. Duckett was able to select nine boundaries with ease since he was given short, wide balls in addition to some balls that went down leg.
Axar Patel dropped Salt in the first ten overs, but Salt struggled and was unable to fully benefit from the reprieve. His attempt at a big shot ended up throwing a top-edge to mid-on, giving debutant spinner Varun Chakaravarthy his first ODI wicket.
Duckett went on to reach his fifty off thirty-six deliveries, but he took a big shot and holed out to long-on in a tame manner in an attempt to challenge Jadeja. However, Root put his foot down and used a calculated stroke to be the fulcrum of England’s innings. His use of reverse sweeps and pulls to obtain his boundaries while playing spinners on the back foot and choosing them early was the high point of his knock.
There was a lot of pressure on Root and Jos Buttler to keep England going when Gill had to rush back from mid-off and look up over his shoulder to catch the dangerous Harry Brook’s catch off Harshit Rana’s bowling. Buttler attempted to loft off a slower ball from Pandya shortly after Root reached fifty, but was caught at mid-off.
The major setback for England came in the 43rd over when Root holed out to long-off after failing to hold his aerial shot down against Jadeja, marking the seventh time that Jadeja had dismissed him.
The teams left for Ahmedabad to play their third One-Day International at Narendra Modi Stadium on February 12.
Brief Scores:
England 304 in 49.5 overs (Joe Root 69, Ben Duckett 65; Ravindra Jadeja 3-35)
India 308/6 in 44.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 119, Shubman Gill 60; Jamie Overton 2-27)
