Tue, 06 Sep 2011 - England vs India, India Tour of England 2011, 2nd ODI - Bulletin

Cook 80 leads in England victory

England ODI captain Alistair Cook yet again led from the front with bat scoring an unbeaten 80 off 63 balls to guide his side to an easy seven wicket victory over India in the second game of five match series. The win gives the home team 1-0 lead which means India are yet to open their account against England on the current tour.

After rain at Southampton forced the game to be reduced 23-overs-a-side, fans were treated to some high class strokeplay either side. Having inserted India in who posted a decent 187 in their allotted overs, England didn’t find any problems in reaching the target with only three down and five balls to spare.

The home team’s chase made easier by the fact that it had their back to back solid partnerships. Cook’s 63 ball knock that saw him hit five fours and a solitary six was well backed by his fellow opener Craig Kieswetter who raced to 46 off just 25 balls to start the England chase in aggressive fashion.

The two put on quickfire 67 for the first wicket with Kieswetter proving to be a destructor slamming three humongous sixes and four neat boundaries. The England wicketkeeper improvised a lot to free his arms and generate power through hitting area while Cook resorted to pure batsmanship hitting the gaps and putting away bad balls when Indian bowlers dished up the hittable stuff.

India whose inexperienced bowlers lacked venom and penetration finally had breakthrough when Vinay Kumar trapped Kieswetter plumb infront four short of well deserved fifty. Cook was joined by Ian Bell and the stylish right hander got into the act very quickly. He creamed four silky boundaries and scored 25 out of 38 added by him and Cook for the second wicket.

Offie R Ashwin ended the stand having Bell caught by Virat Kohli off 16th ball of his innings. Meanwhile Cook exhibited common sense and skill level to keep scoreboard ticking over bringing his half century off 38 balls. Once Bell departed, Cook had another fruitful stand adding 60 in Ravi Bopara’s company.

Indian bowlers posed hardly any alarms to Cook and Co. as runs came far too easy for the home team batsmen. Bopara too played a good little innings of 25 before becoming Ashwin’s second victim.

The England captain did formalities having Samit Patel at other as the pair went unbeaten and rounded off the remaining 23 without minimum fuss.

Earlier Indian batting effort revolved around it top order led by young opener Ajinkye Rahane ending with a whirlwind innings from Suresh Raina., Rahane, playing his only second ODI, scored his maiden half century and alongwith his opening partner Parthiv Patel and Rahul Dravid set a strong base for Raina onslaught to surge the team total to 187/8 in allotted 23 overs. Raina consumed only 19 balls for his 40 after Rahane has hit a sublime 47-ball 54 and Dravid and Parthiv chipping in with solid contributions.

After a long wait, fans were treated to some terrific strokeplay by Parthiv who took attack to English bowlers right from the word go. The diminutive left hander took liking to Tim Bresnan scoring 16 off his second including a six over square-leg. England reached 30 inside four overs out of which 28 were scored by Parthiv facing only 18 balls including three fours and a couple of sixes. James Anderson struck for England having Parthiv caught behind.

Parthiv departure meant Rahane taking centerstage under Dravid’s tutelage with both complementing each other effectively. Rahane, as he showed in t-20 game and first ODI exhibited a copy book style batsmanship mixed with some aggression to drive his team forward. His six off Stuart Broad was one of the highlights of his knock hooking the fast bowler way back into mid-wicket stands. His pull shots and driving up and over cover was a top notch act as runs came thick and fast for India.

Dravid was class at work, hitting the gaps far too easily and showing aggression when presented with an opportunity. The old and young combination put 79 for the second wicket before Swann had Dravid caught brilliantly by Anderson at short mid-wicket for nearly run a ball 32.

Rahane though continued to reach his first fifty before Swann struck in successive overs to remove Rahane and Virat Kohli for nine. India needed a late charge to make scoreboard look healthy and yet again it turned out to be Raina. The left hander slammed three big sixes and as many fours to help India to cross 180.

England though kept pegging away in the end not allowing MS Dhoni and Indian lower order to score quick and heavily. English fielders were mixed bag on the park having far too many fumbles in the out-filed but caught couple of superb catches. Ian Bell’s catch to dismiss Manoj Tiwary was a standout and Ben Stokes too hung onto a screamer in the deep to limit Raina’s aggression.

Swann and Anderson were pick of the bowlers for the home team as off-spinner took three in his five overs for just 33. Anderson gave away just 11 in his three to go with an important wicket of Parthiv. England’ other two fast bowlers though leaked runs big time. Bresnan was taken for 43 in four overs and Jade Dernbach too got some stick conceding 49 in his wicketless five overs.