Riding high after the first game of the ODI series where they outplayed England, India were brought crashing down to earth at Lord’s as the home team levelled the series. CricketNext takes a look at five reasons why India were beaten by a big margin on the day.
Joe Root’s timely return to form
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Joe Root was badly exposed by Kuldeep Yadav in the first ODI at Trent Bridge, pinned to the backfoot and dismissed cheaply. However, at Lord’s he came well prepared. This time to counter the turn, Root played Yadav and Chahal as late as possible and as close as possible to the body. He took out the sweep on occasions and used his feet assiduously to thwart their lengths. His solid innings of 113 runs set up the platform for David Willey’s assault.
David Willey’s final push
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At 214/5 in the 37th over, England were floundering but Willey’s breathtaking 31-ball 50 gave them the impetus. Although Joe Root had set up a strong platform but it was Willey’s onslaught that helped England fetch 94 runs in the last 10 overs. England eventually finished at an imposing 322/7, and Willey’s innings turned out to be crucial as it helped them take the momentum into their bowling innings.
Top order failure
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India’s success in ODI cricket off late, especially in chases, has been built around the success of their top three – Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In the first ODI at Trent Bridge the top three scored 252 of the required 269 runs. At Lord’s, Sharma, Dhawan and Kohli couldn’t replicate that effort. Dhawan and Kohli had good starts but with 323 to chase down, one of them needed a triple figure score. With the top order gone, India fell behind the game and never recovered.
KL Rahul at number four?
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There is no doubt about KL Rahul’s ability in the top three, but numbers tell a different story whenever he is demoted in batting order. His ODI career average is 32 but as an opener he averages 69. Interestingly, while batting at number 4, where he batted at Lord’s, Rahul averages just 13. Will he continue to bat at number four is a call that captain Virat Kohli has to take as India try and work out what their ideal batting order is for next year’s World Cup in England.
MS Dhoni’s Crawl
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For a man feted as India’s best finisher, MS Dhoni walked in to bat with the required run rate being just below eight though the top order had been dismissed. He played an inexplicable hand, making a painstaking 59-ball 37 with just a couple of boundaries. India added just 75 runs during his stay at the crease which lasted for 19.4 overs. On occasions, Dhoni did try to step out to the spinners but couldn’t connect. Such was his innings that he was even booed by the crowd on a day he became only the fourth Indian to complete 10,000 ODI runs.
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