Joe Root’s unbeaten 99 guided England to a four-wicket victory over India in the second One-Day International at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, levelling the three-match series 1-1 ahead of the decider at Lord’s on July 19.
Chasing 234, England recovered from a disastrous start after Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Ben Duckett with the first ball of the innings before Prasidh Krishna removed Jacob Bethell to leave the hosts at 8/2.
Root anchored the chase throughout, first adding 45 runs with captain Harry Brook (16) before sharing a crucial 72-run sixth-wicket partnership with Will Jacks (30). England had slipped to 125/5 after wickets from debutant Gurnoor Brar, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel raised India’s hopes of defending their total.
Root remained composed despite the pressure, bringing up his fifth consecutive ODI half-century before Gus Atkinson joined him in an unbeaten 38-run stand for the seventh wicket. Atkinson struck the winning boundary to finish on 23 not out, leaving Root stranded on 99 from 133 deliveries as England reached 235/6 in 44.1 overs with 35 balls to spare.
Brar was India’s most successful bowler with 2/67, while Bumrah, Krishna, Axar Patel and Dube claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, England’s pace attack restricted India to 233 all out in 44 overs after captain Harry Brook elected to bowl.
India made a steady start through Rohit Sharma (26) and Shubman Gill (31), but England kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Ishan Kishan, replacing the unwell KL Rahul, managed just one run before Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer rebuilt the innings.
Kohli struck 65 off 66 balls with eight boundaries, while Iyer top-scored with 66 from 71 deliveries, including five fours and two sixes. India appeared well placed at 178/3 before losing their final seven wickets for 55 runs as the lower middle order failed to capitalise. Jasprit Bumrah’s unbeaten 20 provided late resistance.
Jofra Archer led England’s attack with figures of 3/47, while Gus Atkinson claimed 3/50 and Saqib Mahmood picked up 2/52 to trigger India’s collapse.
The result denied India the chance to clinch the series in Cardiff and set up a winner-takes-all third ODI at Lord’s on Sunday.
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