Yusuf Pathan in action in Indore on Monday. (AP)

Indore: Yuvraj Singh is living a dream. The left-hander’s Midas touch with the bat and the ball has left England mesmerised in the one-day series so far.

If his 138 off 78 balls in Rajkot on Friday was not enough, he went one better in Indore on Monday. His second consecutive century, that rescued India from a top-order collapse, along with four wickets, ensured India go 2-0 up in the seven-match series. The contest was effectively over once he got rid of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen in the same over, as India coasted to a 54-run victory.

Showing character and discipline, Yuvraj scored 118 off 122 balls after India were reduced to 29 for three in the eighth over. The Man of the Match laid the foundation through a brisk partnership of 134 for the fourth wicket with Gautam Gambhir (70) as India finished on 292 for nine.

Towards the close, Yusuf Pathan provided the spark with a savage unbeaten half century off 29 balls that included two fours and four sixes.

“We lost the plot to Yuvraj,” Pietersen conceded at the end of the match.

The target was never going to be easy for England, specially on a turning track. Their innings began on a disastrous note with opener Ian Bell being run out in the very first over, thanks to a brilliant piece of fielding by Suresh Raina.

The asking rate had soared to almost nine in the 32nd over. Pietersen decided to take the batting Power Play and gave Flintoff the licence to break free. He smashed Harbhajan for three sixes — two over deep mid-wicket and one straight — in the next over. England scored 59 off the final Power Play, reducing the equation to 110 off 13 overs.

Things suddenly seemed to be in the visitors’ grasp. Yuvraj was at it again as he trapped Flintoff leg before with a faster one and bowled Pietersen through the bat-pad gap in the space of four balls.

On a pitch that was two paced and had variable bounce, Yuvraj controlled his natural instincts at the outset. Driving and hitting through the line was hard, for the speed at which the ball came on to the bat was slower than what the batsmen expected.

Yuvraj did not waste time to settle into his groove, glancing a no-ball from Flintoff off his pads for a boundary and pulling the free-hit into the stands at mid-wicket in the ninth over.

What followed was a flurry of pulls and drives into the gaps to give the innings direction.

India scored only 57 off the first 14 overs but Yuvraj and Gambhir took 106 off the next 16. Gambhir reached his half-century off 56 balls. Yuvraj took longer to reach his fifty — 61 balls — but his next 61 balls produced 66 runs as he stepped on the gas pedal and peppered the leg-side with 12 out of his 17 boundaries.