 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Delhi boys Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir showed their class as India produced a clinical display to spank England by eight wickets in the second cricket one-dayer and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series on Monday.
The Indians, riding on pacer Vinay Kumar's career-best effort of 4 for 30, restricted the visitors to 237 all out, before Kohli (112 not out) and Gambhir (84 not out) rattled up the required runs, with as many as 80 balls to spare on a good batting track at the Ferozshah Kotla.
After the bowlers showed discipline to dismiss England in 48.2 overs, Kohli and Gambhir took centre stage with a record 209-run partnership to script another huge win for the hosts following the resounding 126-run victory in the first game in Hyderabad on October 14.
The Delhi duo set a new record for the third-wicket partnership against England, eclipsing the previous best of 175 between Navjot Singh Siddhu and Mohammad Azharuddin. It was also the highest third-wicket partnership at the Kotla, surpassing the record of Sachin Tendulkar and Azharuddin, who had stitched 175 runs.
Kohli took a single off Dernbach to not only notch his seventh ODI ton, but also the first century by an Indian at the Kotla in 15 years.
Tendulkar was the last Indian to hit a century, during the 1996 World Cup match against Sri Lanka.
Electing to bat, most of the English batsmen -- Kevin Pietersen (46), Samit Patel (42), Ravi Bopara (36), Jonathan Bairstow (35) and Jonathan Trott (34) -- got the starts but could not translate them into big knocks after losing both the openers for nought.
The Indians also had a poor start, and were 29 for two at one stage, before the Gambhir-Kohli assault completely changed the complexion of the game.
The teams now travel to Mohali for the third game on October 20.
Parthiv Patel got a reprieve when he was on 10, dropped by Graeme Swann in second slip off the bowling of Tim Bresnan. But that did not prove too costly for the visitors as the diminutive left-hander returned to the pavilion soon after.
Patel tried to chip the ball over the in-field but could not time his shot properly and captain Cook took a superb catch at mid-on region, with Bresnan doing the damage.
Young Ajinkya Rahane smashed Bresnan for a four and six before another impetuous stroke saw him return to the pavilion. He mistimed his hook and Dernbach held on to a simple catch at long leg as India suddenly slumped to 29 for 2.
Gambhir and Kohli then played sensibly to steady the innings as the pair first got their eye before unleashing some delightful strokes. They stitched 209 runs for the third wicket, which took the game away from the visitors.
Although Gambhir was a trifle tentative in the early stages of his innings, he grew in confidence as the two Delhi lads unleashed a barrage of strokes to entertain the crowd.
None of the English bowlers could make much of an impact on the Kotla track, which seemed quite good for batting.
Earlier, England openers Cook and Kieswetter were out within the first two overs and without a run on the board.
It turned out to be a dramatic start to the proceedings as pacer Praveen Kumar evicted England's captain with the fourth ball of his first over and then Vinay Kumar dealt another blow for the visitors by accounting for Kieswetter in his first over.
Cook perished to a rather poor stroke as he tried to cut a delivery wide outside the off-stump and Ravindra Jadeja took a smart catch at point.
Even before the crowd at the Kotla completed the celebrations, the visitors suffered another jolt when Vinay Kumar got rid of Kieswetter, who edged an outgoing delivery to Kohli in the lone slip.
Reeling at a precarious 0 for two, the experienced Trott and Pietersen survived a few anxious moments early in their innings. They added 48 runs for the third wicket before Vinay struck again, dismissing Trott, who edged an outgoing delivery to Dhoni behind the stumps. His knock of 34 came off 37 deliveries and contained seven boundaries.
Vinay bowled a tidy opening spell of 7-1-25-2 and was replaced by Umesh Yadav, who proved expensive as Ravi Bopara smashed him for three bounderies in his first over.
Pietersen and Bopara steadied the innings to some extent and ensured that there were no further setbacks. But just when the duo looked like bailing England out of trouble, the Indians bounced back into the game by sending back both in quick succession.
From 121 for three, the visitors slumped to 121 for five in the span of three deliveries.
Ashwin trapped Bopara leg before to break the fourth-icket partnership that was assuming dangerous proportions before Yadav accounted for Pietersen, who nicked the ball to Dhoni, who held a low catch.
Pietersen waited at the boundary line as the television umpire Sudhir Asnani checked television replays to adjudge whether the catch was taken cleanly. The crowd cheered lustily when it became clear that the catch was indeed clean.
The duo of Jonathan Bairstow and Samit Patel then took upon the responsibility of re-building the English innings, keeping the scoreboard ticking with gentle nudges and pushes while occasionally going for the big hits.
England took the batting Powerplay in the 36th over and Patel singled out Ashwin for special treatment by lifting him for a huge six over the mid-wicket region. The batting Powerplay did not really hurt India as only 36 runs come off the five overs.
The sixth-wicket partnership between Bairstow and Patel yielded a vital 86 runs before Yadav provided the breakthrough, much to the relief of the Indians. Patel was trapped leg before for 42, which came off 53 balls and laced with two fours and as many sixes.
Soon Bairstow (35) also joined him in the pavilion, with Kohli taking a well-judged catch in the deep off Jadeja.