Finance
By: Shree1news, 26 MAR 2021
It was absolute carnage in Pune on Friday as Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow made light work of a 337-run target towards India in the 2nd ODI to level the 3-match series at 1-1. The duo added 175 runs for the 2nd wicket in just 18.5 overs as England cruised past the finish line in just 43.3 overs regardless of stuttering a bit towards the end.
England fell short of a 317-run target by 66 runs in the 1st ODI despite a 135-run opening stand on Tuesday. A very-aggressive approach led to their downfall as they lost 5 wickets for just 41 runs after the strong opening stand to slip to a big defeat.
India vs England, 2nd ODI Highlights
On Friday, there was another 100-plus stand between their openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow and there was a similar collapse as well. England went from 285 for 1 to 287 for 4 in a span of 2 overs. Stokes fell in need of his 4th ODI hundred by just a run. Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke the fiery partnership in the 36th over.
England lost Jonny Bairstow in the following over as Prasidh Krishna returned to pick up the massive wicket. There was some panic in the visitors’ dressing room when stand-in captain Jos Buttler departed in the same over after getting an unplayable yorker from Krishna.
However, Stokes and Bairstow had carried out enough to make sure England got past the finish line despite the mini period where they stuttered a bit. Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan added an unbeaten 49-run stand in just 42 balls for the 5th wicket as the visitors live to fight another day in the ODI series.
17 sixes: Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow put on a show
It was big-hitting of the highest class as Stokes and Bairstow took the attack to the India bowlers, who looked deflated as the balls kept flying over the boundary rope into the vacant stands at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Ben Stokes, who has been batting at No. 3 in the absence of Joe Root, said ahead of the match that he would continue with his style of innings and not mimic Root despite England’s defeat in the first ODI. He walked the talk on Friday, coming up with one of the most dominant onslaughts.
Ben Stokes got to his fifty in 40 balls but got the next 49 runs in just 12 balls — a passage of play in which the left-handed star came up with a brutal onslaught against Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav. The two Indian spinners looked hapless as they were taken to the cleaners by the all-rounder.
0 for 156 in 16 overs: Kuldeep, Krunal taken to the cleaners
Stokes had hit 6 sixes in a span of 12 balls as Kuldeep and Krunal conceded 48 runs between them in the 33rd and 34th over. Bairstow was watching the remarkable big-hitting display from the best seat at the stadium as he was happy to let Stokes take the charge.
Bairstow, who missed a hundred in the first ODI by just 6 runs, made sure he got past the 3-figure mark on Friday. The England opener paced his knock wonderfully well to finish with 124 from 112 balls, hitting 7 sixes and 11 boundaries, despite playing second fiddle to both Roy and Stokes.
Only Bhuvneshwar and Krishna managed to escape the England onslaught. India’s inability to use the 6th bowling option despite the presence of Hardik Pandya meant Kuldeep and Krunal had nowhere to hide. The two spinners finished with combined figures of 0 for 156 in 16 overs.
Source:A-N
