Stats: India and their sixes hitting drought in the ODI series

India’s middle-order once again failed to get going who were exposed against the England spinners after the top three didn’t stay long enough at the crease. Captain Virat Kohli top scored with 71-run knock before small contributions from other batsmen saw them finishing on 256/8. For the 2nd consecutive ODI, Indian batsmen failed to clear the ropes till Shardul’s twin sixes in the penultimate over.

All the major stats and numbers from India’s batting during the first innings:

1 – Adil Rashid is the first leg-spinner to dismiss Virat Kohli via bowled in ODI cricket. Kohli has been dismissed bowled by spinners on eight instances previously but never to a leggie in this format.

He was dismissed by spinners in all the three matches in this series making it only the 2nd instance in Kohli’s career where he got out in three consecutive ODIs to spinners. The Sri Lankan spinners dismissed him in the first three of the 2014 5-match home ODI series.

6 – Number of sixes India hit in the ODI series. The batsmen made 727 runs in the 841 balls they batted in this series hitting 71 fours. The 841 balls they faced in this series are the 2nd most India faced in an ODI series/tournament since the start of 2006 for as few as six sixes. Indian batsmen played 1357 balls in the 2012 5-match ODI series in Sri Lanka hitting only six sixes.

7 – Number of Indian batsmen scored 20 and more in this game. This is only the 2nd time in ODI cricket where seven batsmen scored 20 and more in an innings for India. Seven players scored 20 and more for India in the 2008 Kitply Cup Final against Pakistan in Dhaka.

49 – Virat Kohli completed 3000 runs in ODI cricket as a captain when he reached 13 with a boundary down the ground. He is the quickest to reach the milestone taking 49 innings and surpassed AB de Villiers (60 innings).

71 – The 71-run partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli is the highest for India in this game. This is the 2nd lowest partnership in a completed innings for India since the start of 2014 where they made 250+ total. India had the highest stand of 44 runs when they last played at Leeds in 2014 against the hosts. They were bowled out for 253 while chasing a target of 295.

637 – Number of consecutive balls India played without hitting a six in this series. India failed to hit a six in the 50 overs they played at the Lord’s and 48 overs before Shardul Thakur hit a six on the first ball and 5th ball of the 49th over. Rohit Sharma hit four sixes in the first ODI with his last one coming at end of the 32nd over.

Had India failed to hit a six in this game, it could have been the first instance in nearly 30 years where India failed to hit a six in consecutive ODIs despite batting out 50 overs. The last such instance was way back in the year 1988.