Asked to bat first after England captain Harry Brook won the toss, India started cautiously. Shubman Gill looked positive during his 31 off 30 balls, striking several boundaries before Gus Atkinson dismissed him. At the other end, Rohit Sharma struggled throughout his stay, managing only 26 runs from 47 deliveries in another disappointing outing. The opener found it difficult to rotate strike or find boundaries before eventually falling to Will Jacks.
Kohli once again looked at his fluent best. The former India captain mixed caution with elegant strokeplay, bringing up a 66-ball fifty before eventually scoring 65 off 66 deliveries with eight boundaries. His innings included trademark straight drives and crisp cover drives that kept India’s innings together after the early wicket.
The milestone also saw Kohli equal West Indies great Viv Richards with his 14th 50-plus ODI score against England, leaving only Kumar Sangakkara ahead on the all-time list.
Shreyas Iyer provided excellent support, countering England’s short-ball strategy with confidence. He reached his fifty with a six off Jofra Archer and went on to score 66 from 71 balls, sharing a valuable partnership with Kohli that briefly put India in a strong position.
However, England’s bowlers turned the game around after Kohli’s dismissal. Archer produced another hostile spell, while Atkinson and Saqib Mahmood chipped in regularly. India lost four wickets for just 15 runs in the space of 26 deliveries as Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube were dismissed cheaply. Ishan Kishan also failed to make an impact, continuing a difficult tour with the bat.
Jofra Archer finished with 3/47, Gus Atkinson returned figures of 3/50, while Saqib Mahmood claimed 2/52 as England restricted India to a below-par total despite the resistance from Kohli and Iyer.
With India posting only 233, England will back themselves to chase down the target and square the three-match ODI series after trailing 1-0.
SQUADS:
India: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav.
England: Harry Brook (captain), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, James Coles, Sam Curran, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Jos Tongue, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid.
