Kohli celebrates after scoring his 27th ODI century
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India captain Virat Kohli and batsman Kedar Jadhav were unstoppable in their high-scoring affair against England in Pune as they made 122 and 120 respectively to hand their side a three-wicket win.
For Kohli, it was his 15th century in a successful run chase in ODIs and this put him at the top of the all-time list as he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s 14 hundreds.
Being put in to bat first, England opener Jason Roy took the attack to India early on, but the same couldn’t be said about his opening partner, Alex Hales, as he only made nine runs before being run out by Jasprit Bumrah.
Roy and Joe Root made up for the early loss of Hales with a 69-run partnership, during which Roy surpassed his fifty, before he was stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja for 73, which came off 61 balls and included 12 boundaries.
Roy punished India early on in England’s innings
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England skipper Eoin Morgan could only make 28 before being caught behind off the bowling of Hardik Pandya, but Root and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler stabilised the innings with a 63-run stand, during which Root brought up his fifty.
Buttler ended up falling for 31 before Root followed shortly after for 78, which came off 95 balls and included four boundaries and a six.
Root scored his 18th ODI fifty
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Having been dealt two big blows, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali came to the rescue for the tourists with a 73-run partnership, during which Stokes made the fastest ODI fifty by an England player against India in history as he took just 33 balls to accomplish the feat.
Stokes ended up scoring 62 off 40 deliveries, which included two boundaries and five sixes, while Moeen was clean bowled by Umesh Yadav for 28.
Stokes’ valiant knock of 62 went in vain
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In the end, England finished on 350/7 off their 50 overs.
Pandya and Bumrah picked up two wickets apiece, while Yadav and Jadeja chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 351 to win, India found themselves in trouble early on as Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni all fell cheaply.
With India in a serious spot of bother at 63/4, Kohli and Jadhav not only frustrated England and kept them at bay, but they also turned the tide and put the hosts in the driver’s seat.
Kohli and Jadhav both registered their hundreds in the 200-run stand they put together, but Stokes finally got the breakthrough England needed as he removed Kohli for 122, which came off 105 balls and include eight boundaries and five sixes.
Jadhav went on to make a career-best 120 off just 76 deliveries, during which he struck 12 boundaries and four sixes.
Jadhav’s second ODI century was also the sixth-fastest by an Indian batsman
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Even though Jadeja only made 13, Pandya finished things off for India with his unbeaten knock of 40.
This marked the third time that India have chased down a target of 350 or more in ODIs, with the other two instances coming in October 2013 against Australia in Jaipur and Nagpur respectively.
Jake Ball was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Stokes and David Willey claimed two wickets each.
Morgan was gutted to have lost, and said: “We did have the runs. That’s why we wanted to bowl first. Small ground, conditions are pretty tough for the bowlers. You think you are in the game, especially having them 60 for 4. It is tough to take, but credit to them. They didn’t give us any chances. We didn’t play at our best today.
“We think we were in the game for most of it. So all is not lost. We were at a tricky period between overs 35 and 45 where we were looking to get momentum into the business end. Credit to India for taking Jos’ wicket. We would have liked to kickstart that charge earlier.”
Kohli was ecstatic to have opened his account as India’s permanent limited overs captain with a win, and said: “This win is going to take a while to sink in. Conceding 350, being 60 for 4, their bowlers on top, it took a special partnership to get this win. We have seen the potential of Kedar before. And Hardik finishing in the end. Two cool heads with Ashwin in the middle. At 60 for 4, yes I was still thinking win.
“The moment I saw Kedar striking well, I told him let’s get to 150 for 4, and they will hit the panic button. Just you watch. A splendid innings. Yes I did push him hard for running. The best learning is out there in the middle. I wanted to push him there. He has a special ability. I wanted that to come out. Congratulations to him. His family is here too. The only way we could have come out of this was to counterattack. We couldn’t win with those singles.
“We needed to tell the opposition that we believe we can win. The wicket was very placid so it was just a case of the bowlers trying their best. We bowled really well in the initial phases, but in the end they countered us really well.”
Jadhav was named Man of the Match, and said: “It is a great feeling that I could win a game for my country. That too at my home ground. My mom, dad, my wife, my daughter are here. I could play this long because Kohli has shown us how to chase big totals. I have already missed many chances with the batting. I have also missed chances to bat with Virat and watch him closely. It’s tough to run with Virat, but I will get better.”