Rohit Sharma Century Against England
Rohit Sharma scored a swashbuckling century, his 32nd in ODIs, against England in Cuttack, to steer India to a four-wicket victory that clinched the series for the hosts. While chasing the stiff target of 305, India began by a scintillating partnership from Rohit’s novel inning and Shubman Gill (60 off 52) for 136 runs. In response, Shreyas Iyer (44) and Axar Patel (41*) chipped in with other useful knocks that saw the hosts cross the finishing line despite a few wickets falling towards the end of the run chase.
At halfway, 304 runs were something to watch out for teams batting here on this black-soil surface, given the odd stop-offs that came from playing off hard lengths. Spinners and off-pace deliveries didn’t seem easy to get away. But like elsewhere back in their black-soil surface, at least batting under lights tended to be a tad easier, or so Rohit made it seem in that particular evening. It was all about a couple of sixes; one over deep square leg, the other over deep cover showed up the captain was definitely in the zone for the night. His aggression allowed Gill to settle down although the latter also dished out some exquisite strokes.
After ten overs, India got 77 runs with all their ten wickets intact, which paved the way for the chase. Runs kept coming, with Rohit providing much of the entertainment as the field spread. It was in this sensational knock that he also overtook Chris Gayle to move into second place in the all-time six-hitters list in ODIs. Adil Rashid did get a few, but after a while, when he came on, Rohit and Gill were so assured that they handled him quite calmly. Besides, the ball really didn’t seem to stop off the pitch as it did during the afternoon when England batted.
Something unusual was required to end the immediate assault on the Indian openers and that was exactly what Jamie Overton provided with a stupendous yorker. Just a ball before, Gill blasted a powerful pull down mid-wicket, and the all-rounder made his presence felt with a terrific nut that made the vice-captain look poor for pace. Next in was the famed number three Virat Kohli, but it was an off day for the legend. He did strike a glorious on drive for four but didn’t have the slightest idea with Rashid’s ever-turning leggies. One eventually hit the edge of the bat enabling England to successfully review the wicket that came by.
It was a blip in the series of events, one that may have offered the tourists a fair chance of self-belief in the game. Yet this distance between India and victory was just too much for Rohit to guard up. Shreyas Iyer also played reasonably safe during the coming overs. The duo scored at a very appealing 70 runs in just 61 balls, where Rohit kept being the dominant partner. The two seemed capable of completing the chase as per their liking before India’s captain gifted his wicket away.
Having played with a nice flow and even rewarded a few good bowled balls with boundaries, Rohit succumbed to a full toss, miscuing it into mid-wicket after stepping out to take it off the full. Liam Livingstone happily accepted the gift but with it, the wicket came a little too late in the game as far as England was concerned. Iyer paired with Axar to really launch India’s charge, only for the former to be run out courtesy of a silly run-out courtesy of woeful miscommunication.
Both KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya fell as India neared the target, but the outcome was never in doubt. Axar collaborated with Ravindra Jadeja to put the game to bed with 33 overs to spare.
Earlier in the afternoon, England gave a much better account of themselves with the bat than they had done in the first ODI. Back-to-back contrasting fifties from Joe Root (69) and Ben Duckett (65) were followed up by a cameo from Liam Livingstone (41), who saw England through despite Phil Salt failing to convert another good start on the series.
The visitors got off to another rapid start with their first ten overs in this one, just like they had done in Nagpur, only for India to really slow them down against the spinners. Varun Chakaravarthy on ODI debut broke the fledgling partnership with the wicket of Salt, with his bowling, along with Jadeja, being the hardest to get away from for the England batters.
He got the lines right, varied his pace and lengths nicely, and occasionally put in an odd ball that would halt with grip and turn to confound the batters. He also won the duel against Duckett, who fell in his attempts to tame the spinner. All this meant that Jadeja, along with fellow left-arm spinner Axar, could also bowl at the right-handed No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 from England without worrying.
Harry Brook searched desperately for just an ounce of authority, and yet, he did anchor nicely with a handy 66-run partnership with Root around whom the innings revolved. The spinners choked the run flow so much for India that it was the pace attack who reaped the rewards.
Harshit Rana did concede a few boundaries to Brook but like in the fourth T20I, had the last laugh with a wily slower ball, taken brilliantly by Gill at mid-off. Not long after, it was Buttler’s turn to fall to a pacer, Pandya this time, after being tied down by the spinners. In the meantime, Root batted with assurance to hold one end up. Livingstone and Root built up a handy partnership, as England looked like they could be getting beyond and past the 320-run mark. But Rohit’s tactic to hold spin back for the last ten overs immensely benefited Jadeja, who grabbed Root in his penultimate over.
Rashid completed his over with a searing delivery in the back of his spell to catch an unwarranted shot from bowling all-rounder County. England, it seemed, were on the verge of imploding still one more time on this particular tour. However, Livingstone stuck around and batted deep, blasting some big shots towards the end to get the visitors’ total into some more respectable figures. Rashid too struck three boundaries off the spin bowling of Mohammed Shami to ensure Root and Duckett’s good work was not in vain. Yet, had the tourists shown some more awareness in their batting, they could have pushed a bit beyond 320-330.
However, with what India and Rohit did in the second half, perhaps even that would not have been enough. Buttler may think back to his decision at the toss, considering that the afternoon session was the best time for spin bowlers and pacers to take speed off the ball. In the evening, while the deck may have not offered much juice, the ball did spin then too.
The last of the series will take place in Ahmedabad on February 12. In context of this series, it is technically a dead rubber but both sides will want to make the most of it as the last chance before the Champions Trophy.
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