Kedar Jadhav and
commander-in-chief Virat Kohli orchestrated a sensational chase with sizzling
centuries as India stunned England in the first one-day international here on
Sunday.
Joining forces with India reduced to 63/4 in 11.5
overs while chasing a mammoth target of 351, Jadhav (120, 76b, 12x4, 4x6) and
Kohli (122, 105b, 8x4, 5x6) forged a breath-taking counter-attacking 200-run
alliance to power India to a rousing three-wicket win at a packed Maharashtra
Cricket Association Stadium.
It’s not often that a batsman outplays the
irrepressible Kohli in a high-speed chase but the 31-year-old Jadhav, fighting
for a permanent place in the side, played a cracking innings to walk away with
all the plaudits.
Right from the time when he walked in with India
staring down the barrel, Jadhav batted with his foot always on the pedal and
rarely lifted it as the England bowlers watched the mayhem unfold in front of
them with utter disbelief.
Jadhav destroyed England bowlers with some
courageous hitting that allowed Kohli to settle in at the start and then open
his shoulders in a match-winning partnership.In fact both Jadhav and
Kohli, despite knowing their’s was the last known alliance left, kept finding
the boundaries at regular intervals, ensuring the required run rate never crept
above the danger level. While they did take fair amount of risks on a flatbed
of a surface, they also played some jaw-dropping shots as the fans got their
money’s worth.
They hardly allowed any bowler to settle into any
sort of rhythm and with the pitch allowing one the freedom to swing through the
line, they just kept chugging along at brisk pace. And when Kohli brought up
his 27th ODI century — 17th in a chase — one began to believe India could
actually surpass England.
However, England were handed a lifeline as Kohli
perished while trying to heave Ben Stokes. For once, the Delhiite failed to be
at the end of a chase and with 88 needed from 82 balls, India still had plenty
of work to do.Despite losing his skipper, Jadhav continued to play the
big shots as India marched closer towards victory. But he too fell soon after
to leave the tail with the onerous task of completing the job. Hardik Padya
then played a fine cameo, hitting a 37-ball 40 as India ended up with 356/7 with
11 balls to spare.
Earlier, riding on the explosive start provided by
Jason Roy (73, 61b, 12x4), Joe Root’s (78, 95b, 4x4, 1x6) patient anchoring in
the middle and a destructive finish from Ben Stokes (62, 40b, 2x4, 5x6),
England posted their highest ODI total — 350/7 — against India to set
themselves up nicely.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, the heroics of Roy and Root at the
beginning and middle phases respectively
kept England steady at around six runs
per over. Stokes then opened his shoulders in brutal fashion towards the end as
England collected a whopping 105 runs in the final eight overs to propel
themselves to a formidable total.
The match too looked well in their grasp by the
end of the 12th over of the Indian innings as Shikhar Dhawan, K L Rahul, Yuvraj
Singh and M S Dhoni all returned to the pavilion without making significant
contributions. But the hosts found their saviours in Kohli and Jadhav as they
scripted a famous win.
score board
ENGLAND
Roy st Dhoni b Jadeja 73
(61b, 12x4)
Hales (run out) 9
(18b, 1x4)
Root c Pandya b Bumrah 78
(95b, 4x4, 1x6)
Morgan c Dhoni b Pandya 28
(26b, 2x4)
Buttler c Dhawan b Pandya 31
(36b, 1x4, 2x6)
Stokes c Umesh b Bumrah 62
(40b, 2x4, 5x6)
Ali b Umesh 28
(17b, 3x4, 1x6)
Woakes (not out) 9
(6b, 1x4)
Willey (not out) 10
(5b, 1x6)
Extras (B-1, LB-11, W-6, NB-4) 22
Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 350
Fall of wickets: 1-39 (Hales), 2-108 (Roy), 3-157
(Morgan), 4-220 (Buttler), 5-244 (Root), 6-317 (Stokes), 7-336 (Ali).
Bowling: Umesh 7-0-63-1
(nb-1, w-3), Pandya 9-0-46-2, Bumrah 10-0-79-2 (nb-3, w-1), Jadeja 10-0-50-1,
Ashwin 8-0-63-0 (w-2), Jadhav 4-0-23-0, Yuvraj 2-0-14-0.
INDIA
Rahul b Willey 8
(18b, 1x4)
Dhawan c Ali b Willey 1
(10b)
Kohli c Willey b Stokes 122
(105b, 8x4, 5x6)
Yuvraj c Buttler b Stokes 15
(12b, 2x4, 1x6)
Dhoni c Willey b Ball 6
(6b, 1x4)
Jadhav c Stokes b Ball 120
(76b, 12x4, 4x6)
Pandya (not out) 40
(37b, 3x4, 1x6)
Jadeja c Rashid b Ball 13
(15b, 2x4)
Ashwin (not out) 15
(10b, 1x6)
Extras (B-1, LB-4, W-11) 16
Total (for 7 wkts, 48.1 overs) .........356
Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Dhawan), 2-24 (Rahul), 3-56
(Yuvraj), 4-63 (Dhoni), 5-263 (Kohli), 6-291 (Jadhav), 7-318 (Jadeja). Bowling:
Woakes 8-0-44-0 (w-2), Willey 6-0-47-2 (w-3), Ball 10-0-67-3 (w-4), Stokes
10-0-73-2 (w-2), Rashid 5-0-50-0, Ali 6.1-0-48-0, Root 3-0-22-0.
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