Rohit, Kuldeep blow England away - Mumbai Indians

Brief scores:England 268 (49.5)\nJos Buttler 53 (51)\nBen Stokes 50 (103)\nKuldeep Yadav 6/25India 269/2 (40.

Brief scores:

England 268 (49.5) Jos Buttler 53 (51) Ben Stokes 50 (103) Kuldeep Yadav 6/25

India 269/2 (40.1) Rohit Sharma 137* (114) Virat Kohli 75 (82) Moeen Ali 1/60 Adil Rashid 1/62

A record-breaking 6 wicket haul from Kuldeep Yadav and an unbeaten ton from Rohit Sharma powered India to a comfortable victory over England at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in Nottingham on Thursday.

India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to chase with Siddharth Kaul getting his first ODI cap with Bhuvneshwar Kumar unable to recover from his stiff back.

Umesh Yadav got India excited on the first ball when he produced an outside edge from Jason Roy that ran past Suresh Raina at first slip. England were cautious in the next five overs, negotiating swing but Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy got them off to a flying start.

The hosts were sitting pretty at 71/0 after the powerplay when Virat Kohli decided to toss the ball to Kuldeep Yadav. Things took a drastic turn when Jason Roy tried to be cheeky and mistimed his reverse sweep to Umesh Yadav at extra covers.

In Kuldeep's next over, he trapped England’s reliable Joe Root (3) and Jonny Bairstow (38) in front of the stumps to give them a double blow. Suresh Raina bowled a maiden and India’s spinners made a once free-flowing England struggle for runs.

England’s skipper Eoin Morgan had started to get into his groove just when he chipped a regular leg-break from Chahal straight to short-midwicket.

England’s man-in-form, Jos Buttler, joined forces with Ben Stokes in a bid to resurrect England’s innings. While Ben went into a shell of his own, Buttler targeted his opportunities to score boundaries.

India went wicketless for 19.4 overs with Buttler scoring runs at a brisk pace. He added 94 runs for the fifth wicket with Stokes but Kuldeep returned and forced an outside edge down the leg that went to Dhoni’s gloves.

In the 44th over, Ben Stokes finally got to a fifty which took 102 balls. He had not committed a single mistake until he decided to reverse sweep Kuldeep on his 103rd ball and fell to a stunning effort by Siddharth Kaul at point.

This was Kuldeep’s second five-for of the tour before he bettered his figures by scalping David Willey, his sixth victim. Kuldeep’s quota came to an end. He had given away only 25 runs without conceding a single boundary, claiming 6 big English wickets.

The hosts were reduced to 216/7 at the end of 45 overs at a ground where they broke world records twice in their last two completed ODIs. The twist in the tale came in the form of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid who smashed the ball to all corners, lifting them over 250.

A run-out on the penultimate ball of the innings saw England being bowled out for 268, a total below par at a batting friendly Trent Bridge.

Chasing 269, Dhawan got India off to a flying start, smashing three boundaries from David Willey’s first over and was in no mood to rest. He attacked Mark Wood too and forced Eoin Morgan to bring on early spin.

By the time Moeen Ali came to bowl his second over, Dhawan had raced to 40 off just 27 balls but he got a tad too aggressive and a leading edge caused his downfall.

Rohit Sharma took the onus to score runs on himself and along with Virat Kohli, kept the scoreboard ticking. His extension of the off-drive to Wood for a six was probably the shot of the evening.

Square cuts, sweeps and cover-drives started to flow from Rohit’s bat. It seemed as if the Hitman had picked up from where he left it at Bristol. India went past the 100-run mark and looked in no trouble whatsoever.

The likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Suresh Raina applied brakes in the middle overs for India but the duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had no problems in manoeuvring the spin bowling of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali.

Even Liam Plunkett couldn’t make an impact as Rohit Sharma got a fifty off 54 balls. The Hitman pounced on anything loose and kept hitting the English bowlers to cleaners from there on, making his intentions clear.

Virat Kohli also shifted gears, taking the baton from Rohit to put pressure on Eoin Morgan’s men. At the halfway stage, India were in the driver’s seat with 169 on the board.

Kohli also got to his fifty as India started to take the game away from England, hitting them to all corners. In the 31st over, Rohit pummelled Rashid down the ground for a massive six to get to a hundred off just 82 balls. The Hitman had now scored back-to-back tons on this tour.

Their 174 run stand came to an end when Rashid stumped Virat Kohli for 75. By then, India were in touching distance of a win. Rohit remained unbeaten on 137*, the highest individual score for an Indian against England in England with KL Rahul hitting the winning runs.

India will meet England in the 2nd ODI at Lord’s on July 14.

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