Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma silences critics with his dashing 119 as India beat England to clinch series
Rohit Sharma, who was facing criticisms for his poor show with bat in the Test series against Australia, silenced critics and returned to form ahead of the Champions Trophy by smashing 90-ball 119 runs that helped his side beat visiting England by four wickets in the second ODI in Cuttack to take an unassailable 2-0 lead on Sunday.
After restricting England to 304 all out, Indian batsmen, riding on Sharma, reached 308 runs by losing six wickets in 44.3 overs.
Shubman Gill (60) and Sharma provided India with a strong start by adding 136 runs in the first wicket partnership.
Sharma shines
Sharma's innings was not even disrupted by faulty floodlights that halted the match for nearly 30 minutes.
He hammered 12 boundaries and seven sixes in the innings which fans were expecting him to play for quite some time now.
๐ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ! โ
โ BCCI (@BCCI) February 9, 2025
The Rohit Sharma-led #TeamIndia beat England by 4โฃ wickets in the 2nd ODI & take an unassailable lead in the ODI series! ๐ ๐
Scorecard โถ๏ธ https://t.co/NReW1eEQtF#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/G63vdfozd5
With a 30-ball 50, Sharma's wide barrage of shots and his destructive mood assured fans that he has returned to form.
Shreyas Iyer (44) and Axar Patel (41*) dashed England's hope of levelling the series.
After Iyer was run out, things became a bit jittery fo the hosts after losing quick wickets of KL Rahul (10) and Hardik Pandya (10).
Patel, however, kept himself composed and eased India to the target.
Jamie Overton picked up two wickets for England.
Virat Kohli scores 5
India's star batsman Virat Kohli failed to contribute in the match was scored just 5 runs.
Earlier, Phil Salt (26), Ben Duckett (65) and Joe Root (69) contributed with their willows to help England put up a competitive 304 runs on the scorecard.
Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets for India.
India and England will play their last ODI match in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
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