Yet another left-arm fast bowler troubles Indian batters. The 6’7’’ tall Reece Topley made Indian batters dance to his tunes with a record-breaking display at the Lord’s. After England’s batting collapse in the first ODI, India failed to chase down a below par 247-run target and lost the game by 100 runs.
Openers fail
Chasing 247, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma early in the innings. Topley troubled Rohit with swing and got him out for a 10-ball duck in the third over. This is Rohit's first duck since 2019. Shikhar Dhawan struggled to rotate the strike and became Topley's second victim in his first spell. After an unbeaten 114-run partnership, the openers could score just nine runs in the run chase.
Kohli disappoints again
Rishabh Pant got promoted up the order but disappointed with a five-ball duck. Pant got out to Brydon Carse in the 11th over. Returning to the side after recovering from mild strain, Virat Kohli did not make an impact either. David Willey set him up nicely to increase India's problem in the run chase.
Topley show continues
India were 31/4 in 12th over when the partnership between in-form batters Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya showed a glimmer of home. However, Jos Buttler handed the ball to Topley again and the southpaw hit the wickets. Suryakumar got out for a 29-ball 27.
Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja played responsibly in the middle as well. Pandya was timing the ball nicely but took the risk against Moeen Ali and paid the price. Pandya got caught in the deep and got out for a 44-ball 29. Mohammed Shami infused some life into the game with few boundaries. Once again, it was Topley who did the damage and ended Shami's stay at the crease. Seeing wickets fall at the other end, Jadeja could not stay in the middle either. The southpaw got bowled by Livingstone for a score of 29.
Topley was given the job to mop up the tail and he did that with ease. He got the wickets of tailenders Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna. Topley's 6/24 is the best bowling figures by an England bowler in ODIs at Lord's.
Chahal magic at Lord’s
Earlier, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first. England got off to a good start but Pandya ended Roy's innings. The opener scored 23 runs and became the second-highest run-scorer as opener for England.
Jonny Bairstow was starting to look dangerous but Chahal got the big wicket. Bairstow scored a run-a-ball 38. In his first spell, Chahal got two more big wickets by sending Joe Root (11) and Ben Stokes (21) back to the pavillion. Shami struck in his second spell as well with the wicket of Buttler (4). This was the fifth time Buttler lost his wicket to Shami.
From 102/5, Livingstone and Ali looked to get the innings back on track. Again Pandya broke the partnership with the wicket of Livingstone in the 29th over. The resistance did not end there. Ali and Willey shared a 62-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Ali missed his half-century and became Chahal's fourth victim of the day. The leggie registered the best bowling figures (4/47) in ODIs by an Indian at Lord's.
Willey batted with the tail and got England to a respectable total of 246 before they got all out in 49th over. Willey played a crucial knock of 41 from 49 deliveries including two fours and as many sixes.
