INDvENG: Kuldeep, Rohit star in India’s eight-wicket win

Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on and captain Virat Kohli made 75 to add 167 runs for the second wicket as India reached the target of 269 in 40.1overs.

 

Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav once again cast a spell on the England batsmen with his mesmerizing wrist spinners as his career-best 6 for 25 restricted the hosts to a moderate 268.

Once Virat Kohli opted to field, the English script unfolded very much on similar lines with the T20 series, where things went downhill as soon as Kuldeep was introduced into the attack. None of the England batsmen were able to read him and a testimony to that was his brilliant figures of 10-0-25-6. He bowled an astounding 38 dot balls and not once was he hit for a boundary. This was Kuldeep's first five-for in ODIs after he had recently achieved the same feat in T20Is during the Manchester encounter. 

As usual Jos Buttler (53 off 51 balls) looked the most comfortable while Ben Stokes (50 off 103 balls) played a painstaking knock. Together, they added 83 for the fifth wicket showing signs of recovery but he dismissed the two set batsmen in quick succession to bring about the home team's downfall. Moeen Ali (24) and Adil Rashid (22) added a few quick runs to help England cross the 250-run mark before it was all out in the final over with a delivery left.

That Kuldeep was singularly responsible for England's batting collapse was evident more so because the next best figures were 2 for 70 in 9.5 overs by Umesh Yadav. Even Kuldeep's spin twin Yuzvendra Chahal (1/51 in 10 overs) was not exactly economical.

The match started with both Jason Roy (38) and Jonny Bairstow (38) launching into Yadav and debutant Siddarth Kaul (0/62 in 10 overs) with a flurry of boundaries. They added 73 for the opening stand before a wrong execution of reverse sweep brought about Roy's downfall.

Kuldeep was not afraid to flight the ball and dipped viciously having the batsmen in two minds. Some played with the turn and some tried against the turn -- both with dismal outcomes. At the start of the 13th over, Joe Root (3) was completely befuddled by a ripping leg break and was trapped lbw. Four balls later, Bairstow was trapped lbw via DRS, failing to read the googly.

Brief scores: England 268 all out in 49.5 overs (Jos Buttler 53, Ben Stokes 50, Kuldeep Yadav 6/25) lost to India 269/2 (Rohit Sharma 137*, Virat Kohli 75; Rashid 1/62) in 40.1 overs.