TOP 5 India Vs England ODI Matches Of The 21st Century

With India vs England ODI series just around the corner, we look at the top limited overs matches which were played between India and England in the 21st century.

Scenes after 2002 Natwest final victory. (File Photo/ Getty Images)

India vs England has been an exciting fixture of this century. Both the teams had some great limited over players in their ranks. Right from Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes of Broad in 2007 to the 2008 series back-out after the 26/11 attacks, India vs England has seen its ups and downs.

Today we look at the top One Day International matches that were played between India and England.

Sixth ODI; Feb 3 2002, Mumbai: India vs England series 2001-02 was a hard fought series for both the teams. India was 3-2 ahead in a six match series but had to clinch the sixth one-day in order to seal the ODI series. England scored a modest score of 255 in the first innings. While chasing, India was in the game for the most part of the match, but faltered towards the end. This was the same match in which Andrew Flintoff had taken off his shirt while celebrating at the old Wankhade Stadium. Marcus Trescothick was given the man of the match award for scoring 95 of just 80 balls. This match set the tone for the upcoming India-England matches.

Natwest Series Final; July 13 2002, Lords: It was revenge time for Sourav Ganguly and co. This Natwest series final was one for the ages to come. England scored 325 runs in the first innings. And we need to keep in mind that this is 2002 and scoring 300+ runs was not as common as it is now. Inc=dia chased down this huge total with two balls to spare after a dismal opening batting performanc. Two youngsters, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh rose to the occasion to take India through. The most iconic moment of the game was whe Ganguly publicly showed his torso as he waved his shirt in joy. Freddy Flintoff look disastrous in the moment as he knew that Ganguly’s gesture was in response to his gesture at the Wankhade Stadium. Kaif was the man of the match in a game that will go down in history as one of India’s best overseas performance.

6^th ODI; September 5 2007, London: It was a do-or-die match for team India and they played the match like one. Although Tendulkar was the man of the match for his brilliant 94 of 81 balls, the finishing line was crossed by a great innings by Robin Uthappa. India required 23 runs in the last two overs and seven wickets were down. Only tail-enders were supporting Uthappa, but he managed to take India over the line. It was the same match when Yuvraj was hit for five sixes by Dimitri Mascarenhas.

Group B, 2011 Cricket World Cup; 27 February 2011, Bengaluru: Back then, it was only the fourth match to be tied in a cricket world cup. At one point in the second innings, England were cruising to win the game. It was a near scare for India as it would have been an embarrassment if India would have lost after scoring 338 runs in the first innings. Sachin Tendulkar was the centurion for India while England Captain Andrew Strass played a great innings of 158 runs. He was picked by Zaheer Khan. Had Strauss stayed at the crease, he would have easily won the game for England. India later went on to win the tournament.

1^st ODI, 15 January 2017, Pune: England almost chased down India’s score of 357 in 50 overs. It was the series of Yuvraj’s return and also of the arrival of Jason Roy in international cricket. India scored 356 runs courtesy of hundreds from Virat and Kedar Jadhav. England played very well but couldn’t go over the line as they scored 350 runs, just six runs short of India’s score.

These were the TOP 5 India vs England ODIs of the 21^st century. Tell us in comments if we missed out on any of the big matches played between India and England.