England vs India, 2nd ODI: Toothless fight from Men in Blue as hosts keep series alive

London: England cruised to a comfortable 86-run victory over India to keep the three-match series alive at Lord’s in London on Saturday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Joe Root’s sizzling ton helped the hosts finish with 322-7 on board and in reply, the task proved too much for Virat Kohli’s men.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got the visitors off to a steady start but just before they could hit a half-century stand, Mark Wood dismissed the former through a soft dismissal. Dhawan also departed in similar fashion and then Liam Plunkett dealt another blow by removing the in-form KL Rahul for a duck.

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina soaked the pressure with an 80-run stand but Eoin Morgan’s men kept the game in control. Spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali combined to send the settled duo packing.

MS Dhoni kept ploughing a lonely furrow as he kept losing partners at the end. Plunkett came into the attack and dismissed the veteran cricketer and from there on, wickets kept tumbling for the Men in Blue.

With the series tied at 1-1, both sides will eye glory when they face each other in the series decider at Leeds on Tuesday.  

India 236-10 after 50 overs:

CAUGHT! India are bowled out on the final ball of the match as Chahal loses his wicket to David Willey.

India 222-9 after 47 overs:

LBW! Plunkett bowls a good length delivery outside off, that's dips sharply into Kaul after pitching. The batsman is struck on the pads and the umpire raises his finger. India opt for a review and there's nothing much the tailender can do.

FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN? It's the end of MS Dhoni, who just managed two boundaries in his 59-ball innings. Slower one by Plunkett, Dhoni swings his bat at finds the man at deep mid-wicket.

India 208-7 after 43 overs:

ANOTHER RECORD! MS Dhoni reaches 10000 ODI runs, becoming only the fourth Indian batsman. What a remarkable feat!

India 194-7 after 40 overs:

STUMPED! Rashid gets his second wicket as Umesh Yadav departs. Charges down the track, trying to play across the line but Buttler takes off the bails. Reviews show the batsman out of his crease.

India 191-6 after 39 overs:

CAUGHT! Buttler pulls off a superb catch once again. Plunkett bowls it down leg and Pandya tries to run it down fine. Gets a thick edge which the keeper holds on to.

India 175-5 after 36 overs:

The chase is getting out of India's hand as the required run rate has climbed over to now 10 runs per over. The visitors have also struggled to play spin in the middle that has worked in favour of England.

India 157-5 after 32 overs:

BOWLED! It's the googly from Adil Rashid and Raina is tempted to play the slog. He wildly swings and the ball rattles the timber.

India 140-4 after 27 overs:

LBW! Moeen Ali gets the big fish Virat Kohli after troubling him for quite sometime. Length ball pitches outside off and sharply turns in towards the batsman who plays across is line. Umpire raises his finger without any second thoughts.

India 104-3 after 18 overs:

100 UP! Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina have steered the visitors past the 100-run mark. Boundaries have dried up as the duo aim to settle down.

India 65-3 after 12 overs:

WHAT A CATCH! Plunkett bowls a sharp delivery, coming into Rahul who can only manage an inside edge. Buttler is not in good position behind the stumps but somehow pulls out a one-handed effort.

India 57-2 after 10 overs:

CAUGHT! Another one gone and the hosts will take this. Full delivery outside off, Dhawan has a go at it trying to play square but can only find the man at backward point. Brilliant start this for England.

India 52-1 after 9 overs:

BOWLED! Poor shot by Rohit Sharma and he has himself to blame. Charges down the track, misreads the off-cutter and swings his bat. The ball crashes into leg stump.

1st innings:

A classy 12^th ODI ton from Joe Root helped England set up a mammoth 322-7 on board after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow provided a steady start before Kuldeep Yadav, once again, worked his magic.

In the space of his first two overs, the chinaman sent both openers back to the pavilion. It looked as if another collapse was awaiting the Englishmen, but Joe Root and Eoin Morgan turned the tide of the game with a century partnership.

Kuldeep found the breakthrough again by dismissing the England skipper and that put the Men in Blue back in the hunt.

The likes of Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal combined to rattle the middle order but Root kept things ticking at the other end. The England Test skipper later scored a magnificent ton while David Willey also contributed with a quick-fire fifty.  

England 322-7 after 50 overs:

FIFTY! Maiden ODI half-century for David Willey. What a handy knock this is by the southpaw, who has looked at ease while dealing with the pace attack.

England 305-6 after 48 overs:

HUNDRED! 12th ODI ton for Joe Root, who has been the star of the show so far. Wickets have kept tumbling at the other end but that has no way taken a toll on his rhythm.

England 240-6 after 42 overs:

WHAT A CATCH! Flighted wide outside off stump and Moeen straightaway slogs but cannot connect well. Rohit Sharma from long on keeps his eyes on the ball before putting in a stunning dive to complete the catch.

England 216-5 after 37 overs:

CAUGHT! Big wicket this for Umesh Yadav and MS Dhoni takes his 300th ODI catch. Back of a length delivery, Buttler tries to work it fine but can only get a thick edge towards the keeper.

England 203-4 after 34 overs:

WICKET! Hardik Pandya does the dab as he joins the party. Back of a length delivery, going away from Stokes but the southpaw can only nick one towards MS Dhoni behind the stumps.

England 200-3 after 33 overs:

200 UP! England have laid the foundation for a big score here with Root at the middle of it. With Jos Buttler still waiting in the wings, the hosts will be eyeing something around the 350 mark.

England 189-3 after 31 overs:

CAUGHT! Everything is working for Kuldeep and India will take it. Moments after reaching fifty, Kuldeep treats Morgan with a juicy full toss. Morgan, in reply, mistimes it and finds Dhawan at the mid-wicket boundary rope. The game-changing partnership is finally broken.

England 181-2 after 29 overs:

FIFTY FOR JOE ROOT! The England Test skipper shows how important he remains to Eoin Morgan's side. Has paced his innings well so far and has ably supported his partner.

England 140-2 after 23 overs:

Fifty partnership comes up between Joe Root and Eoin Morgan. The hosts have responded well after the loss of both the openers. Even the wicket does not have a lot on offer for the spinners, which has seen the duo settle well.

England 101-2 after 16 overs:

HUNDRED UP! And it's come inside 16 overs. Kuldeep might have sent both openers packing but Eoin Morgan and Joe Root need to carry the momentum forward.

England 88-2 after 15 overs:

CAUGHT! Tossed up between middle and leg, Jason Roy slog sweeps straight to Umesh Yadav at deep mid-wicket. Another collapse on the cards?

England 71-1 after 11 overs:

BOWLED! He's done it again. Kuldeep Yadav releases the googly and Bairstow attempts to sweep him. Ball strikes pad and then makes it way towards the timber after striking the glove midway.

England 56-0 after 8 overs:

FIFTY UP! Second consecutive 50-run stand between Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow in the series. Bairstow, in particular, has been the aggressor in this partnership.

England 32-0 after 6 overs:

SHOUT FOR LBW! England pick up a leg bye after the umpire turns down an appeal by Kaul. Roy was on his down the crease and even the ball pitched outside off.

England 21-0 after 3 overs:

The hosts get off with to a steady start with Bairstow leading the charge. The Indian fielding unit needs to be more sharp.

Preview:

Will India’s wristspin, with Kuldeep Yadav being the chief damage maker, once again rankle England batsmen? Or will Eoin Morgan and co. find a way to tackle the Kulcha threat and level the series? This and a little more will be watched keenly by the cricket fans as Virat Kohli’s men take on the hosts in the second ODI of the series at the Lord’s here on Saturday.

Having clinched the three-match Twenty20 series, India will be eager to continue their dominance in the limited-overs cricket, pocketing another ODI series away from home. England, meanwhile, have an uphill task at hand as they will be eager to level the series.

For England, the only highlight from the first ODI was Jos Buttler extending his fine run of form and managing to tackle Kuldeep. However, England will need to make sure he gets to bat longer and he bats higher up in the batting order. England, though will be concerned with the form of skipper Morgan and their Test skipper Joe Root. The two have failed to get going and with Ben Stokes shown the signs being rusty in the first ODI, England batting will need their top two – Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy – to bat big and bat long.

India, meanwhile, will want their pacers to up their game. The experience of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been sorely missed and while Bumrah is missing the ODI series due to injury, Kohli will be tempted to pick Bhuvneshwar if he is fit. India’s batting though seems to be in a good shape with the top three – Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli – enjoying a good run in the middle during the first ODI.

Toss:

On a hot day in London, England skipper Eoin Morgan has won the toss and elected to bat in the second ODI against India at Lord's on Saturday. 

Both the teams have made no changes to their playing XIs which featured in the first ODI at the Trent Bridge.

Squads:

England: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Jake Ball, Tom Curran, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Mark Wood.

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, Siddarth Kaul, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Match-timings:

The match is scheduled to start at 3.30 PM IST.

Live telecast and live streaming:

The match will be broadcast on SonySIX, SonySIX HD, Sony Ten 3 SD and HD. The live streaming of the match will be available on SonyLiv.com or the SonyLiv app.