Finance
Captain Rohit Sharma scored a magnificent 119 to lead India to a four-wicket victory against England in the second one-day international at the Barabati Stadium on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma’s masterful 32nd ODI century, which included 12 fours and seven sixes, together with Shubman Gill’s 60 and useful efforts from Shreyas Iyer (44) and Axar Patel (41 not out), helped India chase down 305 with 33 balls remaining and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
However, witnessing a rampaging Rohit return to his best form with the bat must have been a huge comfort for him and many other key figures in Indian cricket. It was a knock where Rohit was in his usual flow with the bat – the free-flowing shots, good use of wrists and impeccable timing – all combining to give the fans’ their money’s worth.
Chasing 305, Rohit began by hitting a thick edge flying over backward point for four off Gus Atkinson in the second over. From there, Rohit’s batting took a magnificent turn, flicking Atkinson off his wrists for six and cutting Saqib Mahmood for a maximum.
Shubman Gill was flawless on the other end, scoring two boundaries with his characteristic short-arm jab and flip over the infield. Rohit used his hands effectively to lift Mahmood over long-off for six, and Gill hammered one over the outside edge for a boundary.
After a floodlight breakdown over the long-off fence held up play for 35 minutes, Rohit re-started in commanding manner, flicking Mahmood over fine leg for four and then smashing a six over long-on. He welcomed Adil Rashid with a sweep going for four, before cutting through point for another boundary to get his fifty in just 30 balls.
After the power-play ended, Gill slog-swept Rashid for six, before short arm-jabbing and pulling Mark Wood four boundaries. When Rashid was back, Gill kept finding extra cover fence twice for boundaries before getting a splendid 15th ODI fifty.
With Rohit dispatching Gus Atkinson for four and six respectively, followed by Gill pulling and glancing Jamie Overton for boundaries, the chase was already looking like a one-way traffic for India. But Overton bounced back by getting rid of Gill by executing an off-stump yorker to perfection, thus ending the 136-run opening partnership.
Rashid joined the wicket-taker’s party by getting a ball to turn away at the last moment and caught the feather edge of Virat Kohli’s bat, which was detected by UltraEdge on review, leading to the batter being dismissed for five.
After Shreyas Iyer got off to a good start against Overton, Rohit swiped Rashid for four and Overton for six before dancing down the field to knock the leg-spinner over mid-off for a six and reach his 32nd ODI century in a casual manner.
Rohit didn’t slow down after hitting his century, reverse-sweeping and brushing Rashid for fours before cutting Wood over the backward point to set another boundary. After Iyer lashed and pulled twice to collect two fours and a six off Wood, Rohit toe-ended a slog to short mid-wicket off Liam Livingstone’s full toss and was out for 119 off 90 balls.
Following Rohit’s departure, Iyer and Axar Patel slowed down, with the latter pushing the boundaries. However, on the penultimate ball of the 37th over, a mix-up in the chase for a second run ended in Iyer being run out for 44, causing India to stumble slightly.
KL Rahul fell for ten after attempting to pull a short ball from Overton and giving Salt a glove advantage behind him. Hardik Pandya hit two fours off Atkinson before pushing the bowler straight to midwicket. But Axar and Jadeja ensured India went over the line, with the latter hitting a stunning inside-out cover drive for four to get an emphatic win for the hosts.
Brief Scores: England 304 in 49.5 overs (Joe Root 69, Ben Duckett 65; Ravindra Jadeja 3-35) lost to India 308/6 in 44.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 119, Shubman Gill 60; Jamie Overton 2-27) by four wickets
Source: IANS
