CUTTACK, India -India defeated England by 15 runs in second one day international of the three match series to seal the series here on Thursday.
The contest held at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack where India set a total of 381 for the loss of six wickets as Yuvraj Singh contributed 150 while MS Dhoni managed to bag 134 runs. Yuvraj was declared man of the match for his matchless show.
Chris Woakes took 4 wickets whereas Liam Plunket sent two Indians to pavilion.
Chasing a prodigious total, England managed to score 366 runs for the loss of eight wickets, falling short of mere 15 runs.
Opener Jason Roy gave a fine start to England as he scored 82 runs whereas Eoin Morgan tried to play a decisive innings to help England side chase the target but he got run out on 102 runs. Other noticeable English batsmen included Joe Root with 54 runs and Moeen Ali with 55 runs as England fell short of 15 runs to level the series.
Indian off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin played a pivotal role for India to bag the victory as he took 3 wickets whereas Jasprit Bumrah took 2 wickets.
With today’s victory, India clinched the series by 2-0.
Indian all rounder Yuvraj termed his today’s innings of 150 as one of the finest.
‘Probably, one of my best innings. The last time I got a hundred was the 2011 World Cup. I am very happy with the innings. We were trying to get a partnership. I just wanted to play down the ground and not take much risk. I have been hitting the ball well in the whole domestic season’ he said during the innings break.
Today’s match was be a big game for both teams as a win for India led them to an unassailable 2-0 series lead as England would now be looking for a face saving victory in final ODI.
Indian team look confident as it chased a record total to win the first ODI in Pune. First, it was England’s highest ever score in India: 350/7. India chased it down with 11 balls to spare. This was also the fourth highest ever chase in ODIs. But this was only possible after hundreds each from Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav who also shared a 200-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Yuvraj Singh made a comeback to the ODI team after a gap of four years with a vintage innings in Pune, though short.
However, the two teams know the importance of this game.
Cuttack is supposed to experience some dew in the night and the toss becomes an important factor for both teams.
