India secured a thumping win against World Champions England on March 23 in Pune. India outplayed England in both the batting and bowling departments to win by 66 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the three match series.
India are the betting favorites with odds of 1.57 to win the second ODI and secure the series, while England are the underdogs with odds of 2.37. The second ODI is set to take place on March 26 in Pune.
* Odds have been provided by Bet365 and are accurate as of 24/03/2021
India Today
England decided to bowl first and they never had a good outing as the two veteran openers Rohit Sharma (28) and Shikhar Dhawan (98) put up a 50 run partnership to give India a good start. Captain Virat Kohli gave the innings momentum scoring an impressive 56 at a strike rate of 93.
Ben Stokes helped England to fight back and put the breaks on the scoring during the middle-overs. However, a good innings by KL Rahul (62) and some lusty hitting by Krunal Pandya (58) who made his ODI debut ensured that India would get to 317 in their 50 overs.
England got off to a fantastic start as their openers Jason Roy (46) and Jonny Bairstow (94) put on a 135 run partnership that showed India they were going to have a fight on their hands. However, a strange decision by captain Eoin Morgan to push Ben Stokes to number 3 backfired as Stokes struggled to get going and got out for 1.
England lost the momentum that Roy and Bairstow built for them and let the Indian bowlers get on top of them. Prasidh Krishna who made his debut for India became the first Indian bowler on debut to pick up four wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was miserly as usual sending down 9 overs for 30 runs and taking 2 wickets, while Shardul Thakur chipped in with 3 wickets.
England lost wickets on a regular basis in the middle overs and were all out in the 43rd over for just 251. England will be disappointed with that performance and need to win the second ODI to keep the series alive.
India should play the same team for the second ODI and secure the series before making any changes. England on the other hand need to get their batting order correct and utilize their bowlers correct, if they are going to beat India in the second ODI cricket match.
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