Root’s Unbeaten 99 Rescues England, Forces ODI Series Decider
Joe Root saved England once again to beat India by four wickets on Thursday in the decider of the one-day international series.
Root needed to bat after just one ball of England’s innings and he cemented the chase with a flawless and unbeaten 99 at Sophia Gardens.
He was left stranded when Gus Atkinson pulled Prasidh Krishna to the boundary for the winning run. England reached 235-6 in 5.5 overs, with six overs unused after trailing India for 233.
“The important thing was to get the win,” Root said. “It was difficult to adapt to the conditions. Sometimes you have to struggle and win ugly.”
The third and final ODI in the drawn series will be at Lord’s on Sunday.
Half-centuries from Virat Kohli (65) and Shreyas Iyer (66) bolstered India’s 233. But they were 178-3.
The running chase would normally be academic. England’s target was less than five, it could be done with singles and there were no unnecessary scrambles. Additionally, India were short of bowlers as all-rounder Washington Sundar injured his leg while batting and never took the field.
However, the Englishmen’s ODI confidence was not as strong as in the T20s, making things difficult for themselves.
Ben Duckett was about to bowl Jasprit Bumrah’s first over and Jacob Bethell fell to Krishna at 8-2.
Captain Harry Brook bowled Krishna for six, then bowled over. Gurnoor Brar hit him on the grid and Brook, undaunted, tried to catch Brar again and was out for 16 minutes.
Wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, replacing the ailing Lokesh Rahul, took the first four wickets in England.
Root read the situation and was patient. His second consecutive fifties and 67th in ODIs came from 76 balls. This was his slowest ODI fifties since the 2019 World Cup.
“If his run rate had been five or more, we might have got an errant delivery from him, but he is adept at that kind of chase,” India captain Shubman Gill said.
Jos Buttler dismissed Axar Patel at long-on and was stumped trying to bat Patel again at 125-5 in the 17th over and hope was restored for India.
But Will Jacks backed Root and they put on a hapless 72 before Jacks conceded his wicket to Brar at 197-6.
Root showed frustration but tailback Gus Atkinson calmed him down with a six off Bumrah’s last over, which went over the fine-leg boundary and missed a sitting official. Bumrah responded with a bouncer off Atkinson’s helmet but finished with just a wicket off his first ball. Atkinson scored 23 of the last 38 runs and Root finally got a hold of him despite missing out on his 21st ODI hundred. His 133-ball 99 included nine boundaries.
“He shows up when you need him the most,” Brook said of Root.
Sharma and Kohli passed 8,000 runs Gill again lost the toss but gave his team a flying start.
The former firm of Rohit Sharma and Kohli then combined for 60 to surpass 8,000 international runs as a pair across all formats since 2010. Sharma slipped to 5th place and overtook Inzamam-ul-Haq for seventh place in the all-time ODI scorers list before moving to 26th place.
Kohli scored a fifty (his 132nd in ODIs) with a four-hitter. But when he reached third, leaving Jofra Archer behind on 65 off 66 balls, it triggered a collapse.
Iyer hit a 71-ball 66 but could not handle the tail and Archer and Atkinson took three wickets each while Saqib Mahmood took two wickets.
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