A wonderful display of batting and bowling performance helped England stun India seizing a much-needed victory after the loss of the Test series. While England cheered, Indians screamed.
The weather gods set the day for England when the match began. England batting first thrashed Indian bowlers all around the ground, piling runs and setting a target, which seemed tough right from the beginning for the Indian batsmen. Ian Bell shone for his side hitting Indian bowlers particularly Zaheer Khan and Agarkar all over the wicket during his majestic innings of 126 not out. Alistair Cook was no less. His magnificent innings of 102 enabled the English team reach a target of 288 for India.
The Indian innings began and ended on a rough note, with all the mainline batsmen crumbling under pressure. Only Rahul Dravid and K D Karthik brought some respite to the collapsing spree of the side. However, at the end of the day, the match belonged to the side that performed better and that was England.
India must be ruing their bowling decision after wining the toss. The decision came so spontaneous, as if Dravid knew that his men would chase whatever England set. His decision proved a blunder similar to Saurav Ganguly’s run out by Panesar.
On the start of the one-day series, we boastfully stated that Indians can thrash England in the ODIs, but as England defeated India in the very first ODI, we are forced to rethink. Will the series belong to England or India will emerge victorious after the first ODI.
Lets see!
Via: The Independent
