India secured a commanding 2-0 advantage in the three-ODI series by defeating England at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Rohit Sharma Hit faboulas century
The Men in Blue successfully chased a target of 305, thanks to an outstanding century from captain Rohit Sharma. His partnership with Shubman Gill was crucial in setting up India’s victory. Earlier, Ben Duckett and Joe Root scored half-centuries for England, while Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets. Duckett and Philip Salt established an 81-run opening partnership after England opted to bat first.
Although Salt was dismissed, Duckett and Root strengthened England’s position during the middle overs. Liam Livingstone’s 41 off 32 balls propelled England to a total of 304.
A dominant 136-run opening stand between Rohit and Gill made the run-chase appear straightforward for India. Rohit scored a match-winning century before India faced a minor collapse. However, Axar Patel helped secure India’s victory by four wickets in just 44.3 overs. Initially, Rohit defended a few deliveries after taking a strike, but he quickly put pressure on the bowlers with his delightful strokes.
While Gill anchored one end, Rohit’s aggression propelled India to 77/0 after the first ten overs. The Indian captain continued his assault, reaching his century off only 76 balls. He finished with a brilliant 90-ball 119, which included 12 fours and 7 sixes, before being dismissed by Livingstone. Rohit has now accumulated 10,987 runs at an average of 49.26 in ODIs. He has overtaken the legendary Rahul Dravid in terms of ODI runs among Indian players. Dravid accumulated 10,889 runs during his illustrious career for India, Asia, and ICC.
Rohit is currently only behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Virat Kohli (13,911), and Sourav Ganguly (11,363) on this prestigious list. He also now holds the record for the second-most sixes in ODI history, with 338. Before this match, Rohit was tied with Chris Gayle at 331 sixes. Rohit achieved his century in just 76 balls, marking it as his second-fastest in ODIs based on balls faced. In total, he has smashed 49 international centuries, matching Australia’s David Warner. He now has 32 ODI centuries, making it the third-most in the format.
While Rohit played aggressively, Gill effectively rotated the strike, scoring 60 runs off 52 balls, featuring 9 fours and a six. Gill achieved a half-century in his second consecutive ODI, having scored a match-winning 87 in the opening match of the series for India. In Cuttack, the Indian batter reached his 15th half-century in ODI cricket, complementing his six centuries in the format. Following a match-winning fifty on his return to ODIs, Iyer seemed set for another fifty-plus score.
Unfortunately, he was limited to 44 runs from 47 balls due to an untimely run-out, with 3 fours and a six in his innings. Iyer, who shared a valuable 70-run partnership with Rohit, surpassed 2,500 runs in ODI cricket, entering this match with 2,480 runs. Rohit led the Indian team in his 50th ODI as captain, becoming the eighth player to do so for India. He joins other notable players such as MS Dhoni (200), Mohammad Azharuddin (174), Ganguly (146), Kohli (95), Dravid (79), Kapil Dev (74), and Tendulkar (73).
Noteworthy, Rohit first captained the Indian squad in a 50-over game back in 2017.
