England have been a resurgent side in ODIs since their debacle in the 2015 World Cup. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field. Jason Roy got England off to a flying start and a big total looked in the offing. India got their first wicket when Jasprit Bumrah’s superb throw from fine leg caught Alex Hales short at the non-striker’s end. Roy was quick to punish anything loose from the bowlers and scored boundaries on both sides of the wicket. He was finally dismissed for a well-made 73 when he missed a quicker delivery from Ravindra Jadeja and was stumped by MS Dhoni. England’s strategy was for Joe Root to play normal cricket and have the other batsmen attack from the other end.

Eoin Morgan tried to guide Hardik Pandya to third man and was caught by Dhoni. Jos Buttler showed his class when he scored a quick cameo of 31 off 36 balls which contained 2 huge sixes. However, he fell when he tried to flat bat Pandya over mid-off and was caught by Shikhar Dhawan. Root was still going strong at the other end, but his innings came to an end when he tried to slog a slower delivery from Bumrah and Pandya took a well-judged catch at long on. In the last 8 overs, the English batsmen pulverised the Indian bowlers putting them to the sword. Ashwin had a rare off day and conceded 63 runs off his 8 overs.

Ben Stokes showed why he is regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the world with a brutal innings. He smashed both the pacers and the spinners and struck 5 huge sixes. He scored 62 off just 40 balls which also contained 2 fours. He was dismissed when he pulled a short delivery from Bumrah straight into the hands of Umesh Yadav at deep mid-wicket. The Indian bowlers had no answer to the assault from the English batsmen and conceded 105 runs off the last 8 overs. England finished with a total of 350/7 off their allotted 50 overs. Bumrah finished his quota of 10 overs and picked up 2 wickets conceding 79 runs. Pandya bowled 9 overs and picked up 2 wickets, conceding 46 runs.

For India, to have any chance of reaching the target, they needed to get off to a good start and they needed Kohli to fire. However, they were reduced to 63/4 in the 12th over. Jos Buttler took a good catch down the leg side to dismiss Yuvraj Singh off the bowling of Ben Stokes. However, India still had their captain at the crease. He decided to counter attack and shift the pressure back onto the bowlers. Kedar Jadhav gave him valuable support and the duo put on a valuable partnership scoring at a brisk rate. They did not allow the English spinners to settle and made run scoring look ridiculously easy. While Kohli’s pedigree in run chases is well known, Jadhav was a surprise package. He even outscored Kohli during the partnership and the pair was quick to capitalise on anything loose and at the same time ran hard between the wickets. Kohli reached his century with an audacious punch through the line over long on.

Jadhav had an attack of cramps but battled on gamely. Kohli was dismissed on 122 when he tried to pull Stokes and was caught by Willey at mid-off. His knock contained 8 fours and 5 sixes. At that time India still needed 88 runs to win and the game looked in the balance. Jadhav continued to play his shots to bring India closer to the target. Jadhav was dismissed for 120 when he pulled Ball into the hands of Stokes at deep square leg. His knock contained 12 fours and 4 sixes. India needed 60 runs to win off 61 balls with 4 wickets in hand.

Hardik Pandya came to the party and played with a lot of common sense. Along with Jadeja, he propelled India closer to the target. Jadeja was caught by Rashid off the bowling of Ball for 13 and India needed 33 runs off 35 balls. Pandya showed his growing maturity as a cricketer by eschewing the big shots and concentrated on ones and twos. He brought India within a run of victory when he played a delectable inside out lofted shot of Rashid. Ashwin took India home hitting Ali into the stands at long on. Pandya was unbeaten on 40 on 37 balls with 3 fours and a six. India had won the match by 3 wickets. Kedar Jadhav was named the Man of the match for his 120 and is bowling spell of 4 overs for 23 runs.

The next ODI will take place at Cuttack on the 19th of January.

Image courtesy : BCCI