London, Sep 9: In a match marred by rain, the England batsmen held their nerve to pull off a tense run-chase after India had scored 234 for the loss of seven wickets. The three-wicket win gives the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
India had a disastrous start to the match after being put in to bat. James Anderson took three top-order wickets and ran out Rahul Dravid (2) with a direct hit from mid-off to leave the hosts tottering at 25 for four. Suresh Raina (21) hit the only six of the Indian innings but was out caught by wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter while attempting to slog Stuart Broad out of the park. India were 58 for five at the fall of Raina’s wicket.
But India fought back. MS Dhoni played a solid innings of 69 off 103 deliveries while Ravindra Jadeja’s 89-ball 78 upped the scoring-rate significantly. Dhoni eventually fell to Tim Bresnan but not before a 112-run stand with Jadeja had helped save India the ignominy of folding under 100.
With India having taken the final powerplay at the start of the 44th over, Jadeja and R Ashwin hammered the England bowlers all around the Oval. Jade Dernbach was smashed for 19 runs in the 46th over while Anderson went for 16 in the 48th. Ashwin’s 19-ball 36* cameo helped India finish their innings on a high, having scored 60 runs off the last five overs.
234 didn’t seem a very daunting score, especially with Craig Kieswetter (51 off 46) giving the hosts another brisk start However, after Munaf Patel had trapped Alastair Cook lbw to break the 63-run opening stand, Jadeja and Aswhin struck in the space of six deliveries to remove Kieswetter and Jonathan Trott (11) to leave England wobbling at 89 for three.
England then lost seven overs due to a rain interruption which also saw their target revised to 218 under the Duckworth/Lewis method. More importantly, the break allowed the hosts to regroup after which the England middle-order made small but significant contributions in the run chase. Ian Bell made 23 (25 balls) while Ben Stokes made 20 (31 balls) and even though both batsmen fell in quick succession (Bell was run-out by a sharp piece of fielding from MS Dhoni), Ravi Bopara (40 off 41 balls) and Tim Bresnan (28 off 38) struck a handy 60-run stand to take England to the cusp of victory.
When Bresnan fell, England required 10 off the last 13 deliveries which Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad knocked off to calm the many anxious English supporters.
For India, R Ashwin was the most successful bowler with figures of three for 40 while Ravindra Jadeja was awarded the Man-of-the-Match award for his all-round contribution to the game.
Brief scores: England 218/7 in 41.5 overs (Craig Kieswetter 51, Ravi Bopara 40, R Ashwin 3/40) beat India 234/7 in 50.0 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 78, MS Dhoni 69, James Anderson 3/48) by three wickets under D/L method
Man-of-the-match: Ravindra Jadeja for his all-round performance; 78 runs while batting and bowling figures of two for 42
