Below strain with questions over kind and mounting retirement speculations, skipper Rohit Sharma silenced all of it with a classic thirty second century, firing India to a dominant four-wicket series-clinching victory over England within the second ODI in Cuttack on Sunday. Opting to bat on a belter, England have been bowled out for 304 in 49.5 overs with left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3/35) persevering with his stranglehold over the guests. The 37-year-old Indian skipper made the chase a lopsided affair, returning to his World Cup 2023 greatest with impeccable timing and easy strokeplay en path to his 90-ball 119 — his century No 32 in ODIs that got here simply in time forward of the Champions Trophy in lower than two weeks.
His 90-ball masterclass, studded with seven sixes and 12 fours, set the tone as India cruised to the goal in 44.3 overs to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead going into the ultimate ODI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Shubman Gill additionally made a fluent 60 off 52 balls (9×4, 1×6) nevertheless it felt overshadowed compared to Rohit of their stable opening partnership of 136 runs — their sixth century-plus stand collectively.
Again after lacking out the Nagpur ODI due to a swollen knee, star batter Virat Kohli (5) fell cheaply edging a Adil Rashid leg-break. Rashid has now received Kohli 4 instances in ODIs.
Rohit then had a fruitful 70-run stand with Shreyas Iyer (44) earlier than he was dismissed off a full toss with Rashid taking a effective backward operating catch.
Iyer quickly departed following a runout, whereas KL Rahul (10) and Hardik Pandya (10) additionally fell cheaply.
However there was hardly any run-rate strain and Axar Patel (41 not out) held his floor as he together with Ravindra Jadeja (11 not out) accomplished the formalities with 33 balls to spare.
Rohit’s knock additionally noticed him surpass (10,987) Rahul Dravid‘s 10,889 runs to enter the top-10 ODI run-scorers’ record. He now requires 13 runs to finish 11,000 ODI runs.
His pull pictures had precision, his cuts carried aptitude, and there have been no mishits. He even unleashed a cool reverse sweep off Rashid, pure dominance written in his innings.
He signalled his intent early, charging right down to Gus Atkinson for a 4 earlier than flicking a six over mid-wicket with ease that had the Rohit-esque aptitude.
In opposition to Saqib Mahmood, he opened the bat face to loft a surprising six over cowl as he appeared to have gotten his mojo again.
A 35-minute floodlight failure when Rohit was on 29 could not disrupt his rhythm.
Resuming with the identical depth, he glanced Mahmood for a effective boundary after which took cost of Mark Wooden‘s 140-plus deliveries with disdain.
Luck additionally performed its half — on 36, he survived an LBW name in opposition to Wooden on the umpire’s name, with the ball clipping the highest of leg stump.
The very subsequent supply, he responded in fashion, launching an over-pitched supply over mid-on for a six as he raced to a 30-ball fifty.
In opposition to Rashid, he was equally assured, chopping and sweeping the leg-spinner for boundaries.
He introduced up his three figures in 76 balls, spanking Rashid over long-off — his first in 14 innings.
This was additionally his second quickest hundred. His quickest was a 63-ball hundred in opposition to Afghanistan within the 2023 World Cup.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja continued his stranglehold over English batters with sensible figures of three/35 as India bowled out the guests for a sub-par 304 after opting to bat.
On a belter, Jadeja’s essential breakthroughs got here in opposition to the run of play as he dismissed an aggressive Ben Duckett (65 off 56 balls) and a well-set Joe Root (69 off 72 balls), stopping England from constructing on their robust begin.
England laid a stable basis with contributions from Duckett, Root, and skipper Jos Buttler (34 off 35 balls).
At 200/3 in 35 overs, England appeared on target for a 330-plus complete, however Jadeja’s disciplined bowling stifled their momentum, denying them the additional 15-20 runs.
England would have struggled to achieve 300 if not for Liam Livingstone‘s brisk 41 off 32 balls (2×4, 2×6) and Adil Rashid’s explosive five-ball 14, which included three consecutive boundaries off Mohammed Shami.
Nevertheless, three run-outs within the ultimate couple of overs noticed them bowled out with a supply to spare — the bottom complete at Barabati Stadium since 2011 as 350-plus has been the norm since then.
Jadeja’s tactical consciousness first undid Duckett, tempting him with a widish supply out of his hitting arc which the southpaw miscued straight to mid-on.
Jadeja then eliminated Root for the fifth time in ODIs, slowing it down and tossing it up, just for Root to loft it straight to Kohli at deep additional cowl.
Jadeja capped off his spell with a final-ball dismissal of Jamie Overton, who tried to create room however ended up skying it to Shubman Gill at cowl.
It was a 3rd catch for Gill who was merely phenomenal on the sector on a day India made some poor judgments, burning two critiques, each in opposition to Root off thriller spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who had figures of 1/54 on ODI debut.
Harshit Rana (1/62 in 9 overs) proved costly, conceding 14 runs in his two overs as Duckett capitalised on his tempo, discovering gaps with ease.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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