Nottingham: Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (6/25) once again casted a spell on the England batsmen with his mesmerizing wrist spinners as his career-best match figure restricted the hosts to a moderate 268 in the first ODI here, Thursday.
Once Virat Kohli opted to field, the English script unfolded very much on similar lines with the T20I series, where things went downhill as soon as Kuldeep was introduced into the attack.
None of the England batsmen were able to read him. 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, 51b, 5×4) looked the most comfortable while Ben Stokes (50, 103b, 2×4) 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.
India went 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series beating England by eight wickets in the first match. Rohit Sharma (137 n o, 114b, 15×4, 4×6) and skipper Virat Kohli (75, 82b, 7×4) laid the platform for the win with a 167-run second-wicket partnership. Earlier, opening the innings Shikhar Dhawan (40, 27b, 8×4) had given India a flying start. The Men in Blue reached their 269-run victory target in 40.1 overs.
Moeen Ali (24) and Adil Rashid (22) added a few quick runs to help England cross the 250-run mark before they were 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 by pacer Umesh Yadav (2/70), who spearheaded the Indian bowling in the absence of limited-over specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Even Kuldeep’s spin partner Yuzvendra Chahal (1/51) was not exactly economical.
The match started with both Jason Roy (38, 35b, 6×4) and Jonny Bairstow (38, 35b, 5×4, 1×6) launching into Yadav and debutant Siddarth Kaul (0/62) with a flurry of boundaries. They added 73 for the opening stand before a wrong execution of reverse sweep brought Roy’s downfall.
At the start of the 13th over, Joe Root (three) 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.
England had collapsed to 82 for three, losing three wickets for nine runs in the space of 16 balls. Soon, it became 105 for four as Chahal dismissed Eoin Morgan (19).
Then Buttler continued his rich vein of form smacking his 18th ODI half century, before being a victim of Kuldeep in the 39th over. Stokes too departed off a Kuldeep delivery after completing his 12th ODI half century. Some late charge by Ali and Rashid took England total past 250-run mark.
