Bairstow, Stokes Power England To 6 Wicket Win Over India In 2nd ODI, Series Goes Into Decider

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes launched a six-hitting feast as England chased down 337 against India in a series-levelling win in the second one-day international on Friday. India: 336/6 wkts in 50 ove

Rahul, who made an unbeaten 62 in India's win in the opening game on Tuesday, reached his fifth ODI hundred. His 114-ball knock included seven fours and two sixes. Hardik Pandya hit 35 off 16 balls as India finished with a flourish, scoring 126 runs from the last 10 overs.

Chasing a challenging target of 336, England got off to a flying start with Jason Roy (55 off 52 balls) adding 110 with Jonny Bairstow for the first wicket in 99 balls. This was the third successive century partnership between Roy and Bairstow in ODIs against India after 160 off 133 balls in the World Cup in 2019 and 135 off 86 balls in the first one-dayer here on Tuesday.

After Roy was dismissed, Bairstow and Ben Stokes continued the onslaught.

The pair was particularly harsh on left-arm spinners Krunal Pandya and Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav as they hammered boundaries at will and made light of the imposing target.

Krunal's figures at one point read 0/65 in five overs. He finished with 0/72 in six overs while Kuldeep went for 84 in his 10 overs without getting a wicket. The two spinners -- the fourth and fifth bowlers -- went for 156 runs in 16 overs and that made the real difference between the teams, though the Indian pacers also failed to get any early breakthrough.

The 100-run partnership between Stokes and Bairstow took just 87 balls and the next 70-odd came in just 27 balls.
Bairstow raised his 11th ODI hundred in 95 balls with a six off Kuldeep Yadav, who also took a hammering from Stokes, the Durham left-hander hammering him for three successive sixes in one over as he raced from 50 to 99 in just 12 balls.

Stokes's innings was also the quickest 99 in ODI cricket. The quickest before him was made by Dean Jones, who took 77 balls to make his 99 not out against Sri Lanka 35 years ago.

Stokes, who hit 10 sixes in his 52-ball blitz, missed out on his hundred after being caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Bairstow fell to Prasidh Krishna, who also bowled stand-in-skipper Jos Buttler for a duck.

England lost three wickets for three runs, but Dawid Malan (16) and debutant Liam Livingstone (27) took the team home with an unbroken stand of 50.

With this win, England leveled the three-match series 1-1 after India had won the first ODI by 66 runs. Sunday's final game will be the series decider at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.