India defeated England in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the three-match series after a thumping victory at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday, February 9. The hosts chased down 305 after a scintillating century from captain Rohit Sharma and some handy contributions from Shubman Gill (60), Shreyas Iyer (44) and Axar Patel (41).
With this win, India have also clinched the ODI series with a game to go and have kept their 40-year-long unbeaten home run against England intact in an ODI series. The Men in Blue have not conceded an ODI series at home to England since 1985 when they suffered a 1-4 loss.
Since then, they have played nine series in India including this one and have won seven with two others ending in a draw.
Coming to the second ODI, India were asked to chase 305 by the Three Lions after Joe Root and Ben Duckett’s fifties and Liam Livingstone’s 41 took them past 300. The Men in Blue began the chase well as Rohit quickly went off the blocks with Shubman Gill playing brilliant second fiddle. The openers possibly killed the game as they put up a stand of 136 to give a great platform to the middle order. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja cashed in to take India home safely with four wickets in hand.
More to follow…