England were brought back down to earth with a thud in the first ODI at Trent Bridge, with Virat Kohli’s men making short work of the hosts’ effort of 268 all out. The victory in the first game was set up by the brilliance of Kuldeep Yadav, who has tormented England throughout the limited-overs portion of the bilateral series. Can the hosts bounce back? Read more here.
England v India
2nd ODI
Saturday, 14 July – 12:00
Lord’s, London
To Win Match
England 21/20
Tie 35/1
India 82/100
England
After being exposed in the first ODI of the series against the wizardry of Kuldeep, England will head back to the drawing board hoping to keep the three-match series alive with a win at Lord’s.
Test skipper Joe Root finds himself under pressure for his place in both limited-overs teams following an indifferent start to the English summer with the willow.
Alex Hales missed out on the first match of the series to allow England to bring back in Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes and could find himself coming in the side at the expense of Root.
England’s inability to read Kuldeep either out of the hand or off the pitch could yet be the defining factor in the clash between the top two ranked ODI sides in the world.
There weren’t a whole lot of positives for England in the rout in Nottingham, but the form of wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler continues to be a source of delight for fans of his innovative style of play. He hit a quickfire 50 in the series opener, but was eventually done in by Kuldeep as the hosts approached the end-of-innings slog.
The home side’s bowlers struggled against a potent and in-form India top-order in the T20Is, and that struggle went on as the quicks went wicketless in a chase that the tourists completed at a canter.
The hosts will want to put this down as a speed bump in their path to glory, but will need to turn things around quickly with only one rest day between the first and second ODIs.
The pitch at Lord’s should be great for batting, though overhead conditions can sometimes balance matters out for the bowlers at the home of cricket.
India
India toppled South Africa from their number one ODI ranking earlier this season and another bilateral series win would hand them the favourites tag for the 2019 World Cup, which will be held in the United Kingdom in less than 12 months.
The Kohli-led outfit appear to be the most balanced ODI team in the world right now with players capable of making an impact in any conditions, as they have shown both home and away over the last 18 months.
There is a real ruthless streak in this India team, inspired by the tireless perfectionism of their skipper, and they have an opportunity to close out the series in London, which would allow them the freedom to experiment in match three.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have established themselves as possibly the best opening pair in white-ball international cricket right now. The pair have tremendous chemistry and an ability to alternate roles that makes it hard to for opponents to plot their demise.
Kohli himself, meanwhile, continues to blaze a trail as one of the most gifted batsmen of his generation. He has scored 633 runs in ODIs this year at an average of 158.25, including three 100s and two 50s.
Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni make up a more than handy lower-middle order for India followed by all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Perhaps the only visible weakness for India might be that they sport a fairly long tail by playing two specialist seamers alongside spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep.
Siddarth Kaul partnered Umesh Yadav with the new ball in Nottingham with Bhuvneshwar Kumar absent with a sore back. Kaul took some tap at Trent Bridge and may find himself rotated out in favour of Shardul Thakur even if Bhuvneshwar isn’t passed fit.
Verdict: India
England simply don’t have the time to turn things around against a team as good as India. Barring some individual brilliance from one of the English match-winners, India should wrap up the series at Lord’s.
Written by Jonhenry Wilson for Hollywoodbets.
