Finn and Anderson Decimate Indian Batsman
India lost their second match of the Carlton Mid ODI series to England by nine wickets in Brisbane. After MS Dhoni’s side succumbed to the Steven Finn-James Anderson attack for 153, Ian Bell took England to victory with an unbeaten 88. The opener was ably assisted in the chase by James Taylor (56*).
Finn and bounce were India’s undoing after electing to bat at the Gabba. Using the conditions to his advantage, the pacer left India tottering on 67/5 with his first three wickets after Anderson had accounted for Shikhar Dhawan in the third over of the day. Although Dhoni and Stuart Binny painstakingly worked to revive the innings, the bottom half crumbled after the end of the 70-run stand. While India had lost four wickets prior to the sixth wicket partnership for 10 runs, they lost the last five wickets for 16 runs. Finn finished with 5/33, his maiden fifer; while Anderson picked 4/18 to bundle India out in 39.3 overs.
Done in by extra bounce, Dhawan nicked the first ball he faced from Anderson to the wicketkeeper leaving India on 1/1. Bowling in the off stump channel the ace pacer had bowled a first over maiden which was seen off by Ajinkya Rahane and followed up with a wicket-maiden. The wicket brought to the crease Ambati Rayudu who had replaced an injured Rohit Sharma in the team.
Having bided his time at the crease Ajinkya Rahane whacked Stuart Broad over the cow corner for six and followed up with a boundary a ball later to get the momentum going. But, a tight line on the off and middle stump had kept Rayudu tied down. But the pair prodded on to take the team to 57 before Rahane fell looking to clear mid-wicket. The opener skied the Finn delivery and James Taylor ran backwards to mid-on to take the catch.
Virat Kohli was the next one to return to the pavilion after adding four runs to the total. Looking to pierce the slips, the middle-order bat was caught by Buttler off Finn. Suresh Raina followed him back in the following over. Stepping out to Moeen Ali, he was stumped off the spinner’s second ball for one run. In the next over, Finn took the edge off Rayudu’s bat through to keeper to reduce India to 67/5.
Stuart Binny then joined forces with MS Dhoni in an attempt to revive the innings. The partnership began to take shape as the pair negotiated the English attack to keep the side afloat. Binny took on Chris Woakes to take India past the three-figure mark with a boundary through covers and with two more in the over he had helped garner 14 runs from the over. A while later, the all-rounder whipped the ball back over Ali’s head for a six as they added to the total. But the grittily built partnership was ended with the departure of Dhoni resulting into a collapse in the powerplay.
Back into the attack, with India on 136/5, Anderson failed to hold on to a return catch as Dhoni looked to drive the ball in front. But in the next over, the India captain edged Finn to Buttler and departed for 34. The pacer was on a hat-trick having toppled Axar Patel’s bails with his next delivery but was denied by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, he too didn’t last long enough to assist Binny. In the next over, the lower-order bat found his stumps knocked back with a fuller delivery by Anderson.
Binny survived on 44, having gloved the ball to the keeper as he looked to add to the total with the help of tail-enders. However in the next over, he perished taking a swing at the Anderson delivery and was caught by Eoin Morgan running back from mid-off. The next ball witnessed Mohammed Shami hole out to the deep, and Ali took the catch to wrap-up the Indian innings.
Binny then opened the bowling for India and got off on the wrong foot with a no-ball to start the England innings. However, chasing the paltry total Ali perished taking the aerial route; caught by Kohli at mid-off with 25 runs on the board.
Ian Bell who had set the momentum going with a boundary through cover point kept the flow of runs steady with masterful stroke-play. At 28 off 19 balls he had taken the side to 41/1 at Lunch with James Taylor.
There was little that the Indian bowlers could do to cause a dent as the pair continued to garner runs with ease after resuming their innings. As they closed in on the target, Bell reached his fifty off as many balls with two down the leg side off Yadav. Taylor too followed suit, reaching the mark off 58 deliveries with a single off Patel. With runs trickling in at a steady pace, the duo took England to the target in 27.3 overs with a 131-run unbroken stand.
