England's Joe Root bats during the second One Day International (ODI) cricket match between England and India, at Lord's Cricket Ground in London on July 14, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / OLLY GREENWOOD / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. NO ASSOCIATION WITH DIRECT COMPETITOR OF SPONSOR, PARTNER, OR SUPPLIER OF THE ECB England crush visitors by 86 runs to level ODI series
London : England dominated with both bat and ball to defeat India by 86 runs in the second One-Day International (ODI) at Lord’s here on Saturday.
Having posted a total of 322/7 in their 50 overs, England proceeded to dismiss the visitors for 236 runs.
The hosts have now levelled the three-match series at 1-1. India had thrashed England by eight wickets in the series opener.
The only bright spot for India was the fact that former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni reached two personal milestones during the game by completing 10,000 runs and 300 catches.
The veteran star joined Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid as the only Indians reach the 10,000-run mark in ODIs.
Dhoni is currently on 10,004 ODI runs. Sachin tops the list among Indians with 18,426 runs, Ganguly is second with 11,221 while Dravid is third at 10,768.
Chasing a challenging target, the Indian innings never really gathered any sustained momentum as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
The incisive England bowling was completed by some poor shot selection by the Indian batsmen which saw the visitors struggling at 60/3 in the 11th over.
The bit of resistance by the visitors was produced by skipper Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, who came up with a fighting partnership of 80 runs off 97 deliveries.
But once Moeen Ali had broken the stand by clinching the prized wicket of Kohli, it was all downhill for the Indians.
Soon Adil Rashid bowled Raina, who top scored for India with 46 runs.
Pacer Liam Plunkett, who was in superb form, was the most successful among the England bowlers with figures of 4/46.
Earlier, Joe Root returned to form with a classy century, his 12th of career, to steer England to a competitive 322 for seven against India in their must-win second ODI at Lord’s here on Saturday.
Root scored an unbeaten 113 off 116 balls while skipper Eoin Morgan (53 off 51 balls) and all-rounder David Willey (50 no off 31 balls) contributed with useful half-centuries as England crossed the 300-run mark after opting to bat in the penultimate match of the three-match series.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was again the most successful bowler for India with figures of 3 for 68 while Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya picked up a wicket apiece.
Jason Roy (40) and Jonny Bairstow (38) provided a quick start to England’s innings as they put on 69 for the opening wicket off 62 balls.
Umesh (1/63) and Siddarth Kaul found some swing with the new ball, but failed to provide early breakthroughs.
As the openers started to play more shots and boundaries flowed, India brought on Hardik Pandya (1/70) into the attack in only the fifth over.
The move didn’t yield any result as the all-rounder was taken for 21 runs in his first two-over spell.
Chahal (1/43) was then introduced into the attack in the ninth over, followed by Kuldeep two overs later and the latter struck with his second ball in the 11th over.
Kuldeep bowled Bairstow as the batsman went for a sweep and the ball hit the stumps after ricocheting off his pads.
England were then reduced to 86 for 2 as Kuldeep picked up his second wicket in 12 balls as Roy was caught in the deep trying to clear the fence.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the fourth Indian to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in ODIs during the second match of the three-game series against England.
The 37-year-old former India skipper joined an elite list which features some of India’s greatest batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
Dhoni needed just 33 runs to achieve the milestone and he did it with a single in the 43rd over of the second ODI between India and England at the iconic Lord’s Stadium.
Dhoni is currently placed 12th in the list of all-time highest run-getters in ODIs.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is the only wicketkeeper-batsman to feature in the list with 14,234 runs to his name. He is the second highest run-getter in the ODIs, behind only the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Earlier in the day, Dhoni also became the fourth wicket-keeper to complete 300 ODI catches after Adam Gilchrist (417), Mark Boucher (403) and Kumar Sangakkara (402).Even as 200 came up in the 33rd over, England slumped from 189 for 2 to 203 for 4 in the 34th over.
Umesh and Pandya provided a double blow in the form of Ben Stokes (5) and in-form Jos Buttler (4), both of whom were caught behind the wicket by MS Dhoni, who became the fourth wicket keeper to complete 300 ODI catches after Adam Gilchrist (417), Mark Boucher (403) and Kumar Sangakkara (402).
Chahal bowled a tight seven-over spell in this passage of play as England lost 3 wickets for 40 runs in the penultimate 10 overs.
Moeen Ali (13) tried to break the shackles, but only managed to hole out off Chahal in the 42nd over with Rohit Sharma taking a fine catch.
Willey then joined Root in the middle and together they turned the tables, scoring 82 runs in the last eight overs to propel their score.
Root reached his hundred off 109 balls, but Willey provided the real finishing touch as he smacked five fours and a six, bringing up his maiden ODI half-century off 30 balls.