India batting 50 overs and falling short by 86 runs is not a regular sight in One-Day cricket. Saturday was one of those rare occasions when neither India’s top order, nor the middle functioned properly. The result was an 86-run series-levelling victory for England.


Chasing a target of 323, India huffed and puffed to 236, losing their last wicket at the final ball of the match.


Liam Plunkett did most of the damage, picking up four wickets for 46 runs in his 10 overs that included the wickets of Rahul, Dhoni, Pandya and Kaul.


However, it was the England spinners that took the game away from India’s grasp in the middle overs. The England spin duo of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali took a leaf out of Indian wrist spinners’ book, bowled slower through the air, allowing the ball to drift and grip the surface. The Indian batters did not crumble like their English counterparts in the previous ODI but were stifled in their chase big time.


After getting off to a decent enough start, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave their wickets away in quick succession. Rahul again had no luck at No.4 as he became Plunkett’s first victim and suddenly, India found themselves in unfamiliar territory, losing their three wickets for only 60 on board.


Raina along with Kohli did the repair works but just when it when it was necessary to take the attack to England, both perished to the guile of England spinners.


Moeen Ali got the big fish Virat Kohli with a flatter one, that got him plumb in front for 45 and Raina soon followed trying to play an ugly heave off Rashid for 46.






The Dhoni-Pandya sixth wicket partnership raised more questions than providing the answers. India's two of the most explosive batsmen scored only 37 runs in 47 balls, when the required had already climbed to over 10 an over. Credit must be given to Rashid and Moeen, who did not allow Pandya and Dhoni to get on top. And once was Pandya was dismisse for 21, the match was all but over for India.


MS Dhoni uncharacteristic inning of 37 off 59 balls left India no chance of going even close to the England total.


England innings 


Joe Root returned to form with an unbeaten century, his 12th of career, to steer England to a competitive 322 for seven against India in their must-win second ODI at Lord's.


Root scored an unbeaten 113 off 116 balls while skipper Eoin Morgan (53 off 51 balls) and all-rounder David Willey (50 off 31 balls) contributed with useful half-centuries as England crossed the 300-run mark after opting to bat in the penultimate match of the three-match series.


Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was again the most successful bowler for India with figures of 3 for 68 while Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya picked up a wicket apiece.


Jason Roy (40) and Jonny Bairstow (38) provided a quick start to England's innings as they put on 69 for the opening wicket off 62 balls.


Umesh (1/63) and Siddarth Kaul found some swing with the new ball, but failed to provide early breakthroughs.


As the openers started to play more shots and boundaries flowed, India brought on Hardik Pandya (1/70) into the attack in only the fifth over.


The move didn't yield any result as the all-rounder was taken for 21 runs in his first two-over spell. 


Chahal (1/43) was then introduced into the attack in the ninth over, followed by Kuldeep two overs later and the latter struck with his second ball in the 11th over.


Kuldeep bowled Bairstow as the batsman went for a sweep and the ball hit the stumps after ricocheting off his pads.


England were then reduced to 86 for 2 as Kuldeep picked up his second wicket in 12 balls as Roy was caught in the deep trying to clear the fence.


It was an unnecessary shot, much like his reverse sweep at Trent Bridge, which had triggered a collapse. But this time, Root and Morgan countered Kuldeep's threat in the middle overs with some sensible shot selection.


They rotated the strike and looked to pick up the odd boundary in between. In doing so they added 103 runs off 99 balls for the third wicket which put England back in contention for a 300-plus score.


After the initial setbacks, the hosts crossed 150 in the 25th over. Morgan scored his 38th ODI half-century off 49 balls, while Root reached his fifty off 56 balls.


But Kuldeep came back into the attack as the visitors searched for a wicket and duly delivered when Morgan was holed out in the deep of a full toss.


Even as 200 came up in the 33rd over, England slumped from 189 for 2 to 203 for 4 in the 34th over.


Umesh and Pandya provided a double blow in the form of Ben Stokes (5) and in-form Jos Buttler (4), both of whom were caught behind the wicket by MS Dhoni, who became the fourth wicket keeper to complete 300 ODI catches after Adam Gilchrist (417), Mark Boucher (403) and Kumar Sangakkara (402).


Chahal bowled a tight seven-over spell in this passage of play as England lost 3 wickets for 40 runs in the penultimate 10 overs.


Moeen Ali (13) tried to break the shackles, but only managed to hole out off Chahal in the 42nd over with Rohit Sharma taking a fine catch.


Willey then joined Root in the middle and together they turned the tables, scoring 82 runs in the last eight overs to propel their score.


Root reached his hundred off 109 balls, but Willey provided the real finishing touch as he smacked five fours and a six, bringing up his maiden ODI half-century off 30 balls.


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Toss Report


England captain Eoin Morgan surprised everyone by deciding to bat first after winning the toss in the all-important 2nd ODI at Lord’s.


Quite expectedly, India has gone in with an unchanged XI that beat England comprehensively in the first ODI at Trent Bridge, meaning that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has still not regained full fitness.


England too has decided to keep faith in their playing XI, despite a dismal outing in the first ODI.


The Lord’s pitch has a tinge of grass and moisture, thanks to overnight rain in London city. The curator said the pitch will afford a bit of bounce for the bowlers --- an opinion that Virat also agreed with and admitted that he would have bowled first on winning the toss.


“We were looking to bowl first, we are pretty happy with it. Lord's has always helped the seamers. We'll try to make the most of the two new balls. The spinners are doing a great job for us in the middle overs,” said Virat.


India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal


England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood