Indian skipper Rohit Sharma played a captain’s knock as India defeated England by 4 wickets to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in a three-match ODI series at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Batting first, England were bowled out for 304 runs in 49.5 overs. In reply, Rohit went on to score an international hundred after 11 months as Men in Blue chased the winning target in 44.3 overs.
Batting first, England got a great start as Phil Salt and Ben Duckett put up an opening partnership of 81 runs in 10.5 overs. Duckett got out after scoring 65(56) runs hitting 10 boundaries. After that, Joe Root took charge of the innings top scored with 69(72) runs hitting six boundaries. Harry Brook (31 off 52) and skipper Jos Buttler (34 off 35) also contributed with crucial 30s in the middle-order, while Liam Livingstone gave finishing touches with 41(32) runs as England crossed 300 runs. For India, Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets while while Varun Chakravarthy, Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana and Mohammed Shami scalped a wicket each.
Rohit Sharma smashes fiery ton as India win ODI vs England
Chasing the winning target, India got a flying start as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put up a partnership of 136 runs in 16.4 overs. Gill got out after scoring 60(52) runs hitting nine fours and a maximum. After that, Virat Kohli also got out after scoring a mere five runs. However, Rohit went on to smash the bowlers and completed his 32nd ODI ton in just 76 balls.
Rohit Sharma got out after playing a captain’s knock of 119(90) runs smashing 12 fours and seven sixes. After his dismissal, Shreyas Iyer also added valuable 44(47) runs with three fours and a maximum. Axar Patel also gave finishing touches with an unbeaten 41*(43) runs as India chased the target in 44.3 overs losing six wickets.
