India Beat England In A Decider Thriller: Win ICC Cricket World Cup Super League Series!

 

Sam Curran

Of course, history does repeat itself from time to time; but the history of successfully chasing 337 runs in a one-day international (ODI) match does not repeat itself too often.  Thanks to some incredible display of power batting by Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes England chased 337 and defeated India by 6 wickets the other day in the second ODI of the ICC World Cup Super League series thus levelling the 3-match series. Although India posted a target, a little less than the other day, of 329 today England nearly repeated history again with bowling allrounder Sam Curran (95 not out) taking over charge. It rankled in the minds of Indian fans that the famed batting strength of the hosts wasted 8 balls of the Indian innings as there were no batsmen left, and that they could have set a target well over 350 runs. In the bargain were treated to a real nail-biter of a match that India, studded with dropped catches and misfields, finally managed to win by 7 runs thus winning the Series 2-1 and lifting the Paytm Trophy. Not to speak of the fact that Kohli lost the toss yet again, for the sixth time in a row.

 

Indian batting faltered after a solid foundation was laid by the openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan between whom 103 runs were scored only in the 15^thover. England, persisting with the two spinners, suddenly unleashed them on the Indians and it was not exactly clear whether they got some lethal turn on this batting heaven or the Indians showed lack of application. Adil Rashid tore through the gate bowling Rohit (37) and then having a well-set Dhawan (67) in matter of two overs; joining him Moeen Ali tore through the gate this time of Virat Kohli (7) clean bowling him; and perhaps inspired by the duo Liam Livingstone was brought in by the stand-in English captain Jos Buttler and KL Rahul (7) was caught off Livingstone, suddenly India sliding to 157/4 in the 25^thover with the hope of crossing the 300 mark resting solely on Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya.

 

Pant again thrilled cricket lovers by a superlative innings of 78 runs in 62 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes, and Pandya (66 runs in 44 balls, 5 fours and 4 sixes) carried on after Pant departed with cameos from Krunal Pandya (25) and Shardul Thakur (30). It is thanks to the balanced Team India that a total of 329 runs could still be reached which was no mean target for any opposition under any circumstances.

 

England managed to keep up the momentum not allowing the asking rate to climb alright, but the fall of wickets at regular intervals diminished their hopes phase by phase. With the fall of Buttler at the team score of 95/4 the match came back overwhelmingly in India’s favour, and the joy of Kohli and team was to be seen when the DRS proved Buttler out LBW. But Sam Curran had other ideas. First, he built a 57-run partnership with Rashid, then 60-run partnership with Mark Wood and fought till the last over when the last man Topley was only there to give him company. Curran stopped taking singles keeping himself on the firing line, looking for fours and sixes, and he nearly pulled it off. Hardik dropped him early on and was later dropped by Natarajan. England, although vanquished, must be given due credit for their all-out efforts to bowl India out and their magnificent fielding all around the park that saved at least 20 runs, and of course, the late match-defining charge led by Curran.

 

The Indian pacers bowled with determination, particularly Bhuvneshwar Kumar who clean-bowled Jason Roy in the very first over after being hit fiercely and then Bairstow, and Shardul Thakur who took the crucial wickets of Malan, Buttler and Livingstone. However, 18 runs given away by Thakur in his last over at a crucial juncture of the match and dropping a crucial catch in the dying moments of the match did not do him much good. Natarajan, replacing spinner Yadav, captured the prize wicket of Stokes after the latter was dropped by Hardik off the bowling of Kumar, and bowled the last over of the match keeping his nerve, particularly after dropping Curran moments back, and England could not get the 14 runs required for a match and a series win. Most deservingly Sam Curran was adjudged man-of-the-match. Jonny Bairstow was given the man-of-the-series award, again a most deserving candidate.  

       

In this England Tour of India, the hosts have beaten the visitors in all three formats: winning the Test Series 3-1 thus qualifying for the World Test Championship Final; winning the T20I Series 3-2 and the ODI Series 2-1. For the next two months IPL-2021 is going to capture the imagination of the Indian cricket fans and revelers.

Sensational Bairstow-Stokes Batting Powers England To Tremendous Win Over India, Paytm ODI Series Level at 1-1!

 Jonny Bairstow

When a team chases a down a massive target of 337 runs with plenty of overs to spare you can only watch wonder-struck at the sensational batting display that has to be the cause of it and cannot really blame the rival team. England have done this tonight, overcoming the Indian target that looked quite formidable very easily at the end thanks to the spectacular batting performances of all the top three: Jason Roy notching up 55 off 52 balls falling to a terrible run-out; Jonny Bairstow registering a magnificent ton of 124 off just 112 balls; and most importantly, Ben Stokes scoring an incredible 99 in just 52 balls, getting out caught 1 run away from what could have been a memorable century. There were 24 fours and unbelievable 20 sixes (10 of those go to Stokes) in their victorious innings. At one stage of the game they were scoring almost 20 runs an over with Bairstow and Stokes firing all cylinders in their partnership of 175 runs. So then, England won the second one-day international match by 6 wickets with more than 6 overs to spare, thus levelling the Paytm ODI Series at 1-1 in Pune today.

 

Ben Stokes

The Indian players on the field, particularly Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, showed their frustration and irritation quite clearly quite frequently as they looked helplessly at most of their bowlers being hit mercilessly by the England batsmen all around the park with consummate ease. Except for Bhubaneshwar Kumar who too got hit at the death overs, all other India bowlers, particularly Kuldeep Yadav, could not make any impression on the English marauding batsmen. The first wicket of Roy came in the form a run-out thanks to a brilliant piece of fielding by Rohit Sharma, after the first partnership of 110 runs with Bairstow in the 17^th over. When India did manage to get three quick wickets in Stokes, Bairstow and Buttler it was too late, because the devastatingly definitive batting left plenty of balls to get the required runs. Curiously for India, both the Pandya brothers continued to play and Hardik Pandya not bowling a single over. Rishabh Pant was brought in replacing Shreyas Iyer who unfortunately got injured in the last match while fielding and was ruled out not only for this series but also for the forthcoming IPL-2021.

 

The batting of the Indians, of a very high order no doubt, goes into oblivion as this failed to win the match for them. Consistent with regained form KL Rahul scored a ton, captain Kohli a half century and Pant and Hardik played explosive innings of 77 (40 balls) and 35 (16 balls) respectively. If one compares the top English batsmen with the Indian counterparts one can see the difference, Indians consuming more balls for the runs scored: Dhawan’s 4 in 17 balls; Kohli’s 66 in 79 balls; and Rahul’s 108 in 114 balls. However, their final score of 336/6 still looked very challenging.

 

There were a few changes in the England team for this match: Liam Livingstone making his ODI debut; Dawid Malan coming in place of injured Sam Billings (I was wondering about him as he was in top form in the T20Is, but the practice of playing only ‘specialized’ players for various formats nowadays leaves out in-form and most useful batsmen in the wilderness on many occasions for many teams); pacer Reece Topley making a comeback after years, replacing Mark Wood; and captain Morgan ruling himself out due to injury. Taking into account the last two T20I matches England have won the toss for the fourth time in a row. English spinner duo Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid bowled much more effectively than the Indian duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya.

 

Now, 28^thMarch is going to be a super Sunday when the cracker of a decider is going to be played between World Champions and No.1 team England and No.2 India. The pressure at the moment seems to be more on India after their bowlers miserably failed to defend a massive total today. Apart from that there is nothing much to choose from the two teams. However, it’s time Virat Kohli wins a toss!

Neutralizing The Toss For The Third Time India Beat England In The 1st ODI: A Case Of Constants & Variables?

In the first one-day international (ODI) of the three-match Series played in Pune India have beaten England by 66 runs yesterday, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Like the last few matches this game too was played to empty stadiums due to the second wave of COVID-19 virus in India. India’s captain Virat Kohli lost the toss yet again, for the third time in a row taking into account the last two T20 internationals, and it proved to be a good toss to lose, yet again. It was heartening to see India’s regular opening pair, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, coming in to open the innings. Perhaps this being the first match of the series India started very cautiously to avoid the oft-repeated first-match blues, and concentrated on doing the groundwork for a good total. However, they did not get into a shell which also proves to be India’s undoing on many occasions. In the power-play overs they managed to put up 64 runs when Rohit departed for 28 off 42 balls.     

 

The first hundred-run partnership of the Indian innings was achieved between Dhawan and Virat Kohli, and Kohli fell to Mark Wood for 56 off 60 balls at the team score of 169 in the 33^rd over. Shreyas Iyer, coming in at no.4, became Wood’s second victim at the team score of 187 in the 35^th over. The player-of-the-match Dhawan had been going on steadily at the other hand, but unfortunately he could not accomplish the landmark of a ton and fell to Ben Stokes for 98 runs in the 39^thover at the team score of 197. When big-hitter Hardik Pandya followed suit immediately for just 1 run to give Stokes this third wicket India were in some spot of bother, because at 5 down for 205 in the 41^st over the ideal target of 300+ runs looked distant with only KL Rahul as the recognized batsman and who had been doing poorly despite the rigorous restoration project undertaken for him by the team management.

 

However, Hardik’s brother Krunal Pandya, making his debut in the ODI format, changed it all, and as a welcome change Rahul started playing fluently. The second hundred-run partnership of the innings, the longer and the game-changing one, happened between the duo with the strikingly dominant partner Krunal making 58 not out off just 31 balls and Rahul making 62 not out in 43 balls. India crossed the 300-mark and put up a challenging target of 318 for England to win. In modern ODI cricket the 300+ landmark is no longer unassailable and it seemed that India fell short by about twenty runs.

 

As if to exacerbate such fears in the minds of the Indian fans England opening pair Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow started in the most destructive manner, notching up incredible 135 runs in the 15^th over. The formidable asking rate now had become very manageable under 6 an over, and with wickets in hand the game shifted dramatically to England’s favour. At that point of time another debutant for India ODIs, pacer Prasidh Krishna, captured the crucial wicket of Roy (46) and then cutting short Ben Stokes for just 1 run.

 

The fall of Bairstow to Shardul Thakur for 94 off 66 balls delivered another death blow to England’s aspirations, at 169/3 in the 23^rd over. After that the combination of Krishna (4/54) and Thakur (3/37) ensured England losing wickets at regular intervals with Bhubaneshwar Kumar, economical as ever, joining in at the end for 2 wickets. Sensational debutant Krunal also opened his wicket account with a solitary one. Finally, England were all out for 250 in the 43^rdover which meant that but for the lack of enough wickets in hand the visitors were always in the chase.

 

With tremendous bench strength building up all the time for India, particularly the emergence of of quite a few promising fast bowlers, Team India seems to be swimming in a stream of constants and variables. The number of constants in the team seems to be dwindling from time to time in favour of the variables. See, India have achieved the last victories without the services of their main strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah, not to speak of another stalwart all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Of course, there have been contradictions in retaining non-performing constants, like the rigorous restoration project for KL Rahul and hark!—captain Kohli never looks at the prospect of experimenting with himself! This curious syndrome of ‘constants and variables’ should continue to work for India if not taken out of bounds. With the kind of experimentation going on it is not certain if Prasidh and Krunal are going to figure in the next team for the second ODI at all. Performing players should always be rewarded consistently and non-performing ones should be made to realize how precious and competitive the positions in Team India have become of late.