Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja continued his stranglehold over English batters with brilliant figures of 3 for 35 as India bowled out the visitors for a sub-par score of 304 in the second ODI here on Sunday.
On a good batting surface, Jadeja’s crucial breakthroughs came against the run of play as he dismissed an aggressive Ben Duckett (65 off 56 balls) and a well-set Joe Root (69 off 72 balls), preventing England from building on their strong start.
Electing to bat, England laid a solid foundation with contributions from Duckett, Root, and skipper Jos Buttler (34 off 35 balls).
At 200/3 in 35 overs, England seemed on course for a 330-plus total, but Jadeja’s disciplined bowling stifled their momentum, denying them the extra 15-20 runs.
England would have struggled to reach 300 if not for Liam Livingstone’s brisk 41 off 32 balls (2x4, 2x6) and Adil Rashid’s explosive five-ball 14, which included three consecutive boundaries off Mohammed Shami.
However, three run-outs in the final couple of overs saw them bowled out with a delivery to spare.
This is in fact the lowest total at Barabati Stadium since 2011 as 350-plus has been the average first innings score since then.
Jadeja's tactical awareness first undid Duckett, tempting him with a widish delivery out of his hitting arc which the southpaw miscued straight to mid-on.
Jadeja then removed Root for the fifth time in ODIs, slowing it down and tossing it up, only for Root to loft it straight to Kohli at deep extra cover.
Jadeja capped off his spell with a final-ball dismissal of Jamie Overton, who tried to create room but ended up skying it to Shubman Gill at cover.
It was a third catch for Gill who was simply phenomenal on the field on a day India made some poor judgments, burning two reviews, both against Root off mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who had figures of 1/54 on ODI debut.
Harshit Rana (1/62 in 9 overs) proved expensive, conceding 14 runs in his two overs as Duckett capitalised on his pace, finding gaps with ease.
Duckett was in sublime touch, flicking anything on his pads and threading the off-side field with finesse. The small boundaries aided his fluency as he raced to a 36-ball fifty.
Salt joined the charge, launching the first six of the innings, dispatching Hardik’s slower ball over long-on.
England’s raced to 75 for no loss in 10 overs without taking undue risks.
From 81 for no loss, England were suddenly 102/2, with Root and Harry Brook at the crease, it was India’s perfect opportunity to seize control.
Root and Brook steadied England’s innings. They rotated strike well, blending control with intent, and kept the scoreboard moving at six runs per over.
Brief Scores: England: 304 all out in 49.5 overs (Ben Duckett 65, Joe Root 69, Liam Livingstone 41; Ravindra Jadeja 3/35).
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