India came up with a resounding victory against England in the second One-Day International at Cardiff. Suresh Raina’s belligerent 100 off 74 deliveries ensured India had reason to celebrate for the first time since Lord’s. Ravindra Jadeja’s typically skilful showing with the ball choked England, as none of their batsmen could get a big score.
Rohit Sharma’s innings augurs well for India, but unfortunately a fractured middle finger has ruled him out of rest of the series. India have lost the opener who was looking in good touch. On the other hand, his partner Shikhar Dhawan continues to struggle, making the team management think twice about his place at the top. Virat Kohli was unlucky to hit one straight down the fielder’s throat, but one feels his troubles are more mental than anything else. Ajinkya Rahane continued his good form from the Tests, and looked settled at No 4. There are still a few chinks in India’s batting, but they remain a potent line-up in ODIs.
England will be smarting from the loss, but will take heart in the fact that they overcame a 0-1 deficit even in the Test series to destroy India in the final three games. James Anderson got the ball to talk, and Chris Woakes bowled a fine spell with the new ball. James Tredwell had the Indian batsmen in a tizzy, and will look to continue keeping them under the pump. The one weak link of the English attack remains Chris Jordan. The Barbadian was wayward, and ended up going for plenty.
However, more than their bowling England need to work out the batting line-up. Alex Hales impressed on debut, but the collective lack of ability against spin means that England will convince continue to struggle against the likes of Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
If the pitch at Trent Bridge is anything like the one in the first Test, it is likely to produce plenty of runs (especially for Bhuvneshwar Kumar!). Given their performance in the last match, India are the favorites, but England have the firepower to bounce back.
Squads:
England: Alastair Cook (c), Alex Hales, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Gary Ballance, Eoin Morgan, Ian Bell, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, James Tredwell, Jos Buttler (wk).
(Shiamak Unwalla is a reporter with Cricket Country. He is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic who likes to pass his free time by reading books, watching TV shows, and eating food. Sometimes all at the same time. You can follow him on twitter at @ShiamakUnwalla)
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