Twitter Reactions: Masterful Rohit Sharma ton seals ODI series for India in Cuttack

The English innings, which promised much more than the eventual outcome, saw a total of three run-outs.

By Rathnam Nayak

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Twitter Reactions: Masterful Rohit Sharma ton seals ODI series for India in Cuttack
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Twitter Reactions: Masterful Rohit Sharma ton seals ODI series for India in Cuttack (Photo Source: BCCI/X)

Much like the curtain-raiser, England started off well in the powerplay in the second ODI of the series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Ben Duckett was the aggressor among the two opening batters, scoring 48 of England's total of 75 at the 10-over mark. The third successive 50-run stand in the ongoing white-ball series was brought up between Duckett and Phil Salt in the seventh over of the game.

Varun Chakravarthy, who at 33 years and 164 days became the second-oldest Indian to debut in ODIs, came to the party in his second over. Phil Salt, who had earlier been dropped after a dolly of a chance was spilled at deep-point, became the mystery spinner's first wicket in the format. Duckett departed four overs later. The Southpaw dragged a tossed up delivery to long-on, getting dismissed for a lively 56-ball 65-run knock.

Joe Root and Harry Brook stabilised the innings via a composed partnership for the third wicket. Both the batters looked at relative ease while dealing with the spin trio of India. In the end, it was pace which did the trick as Harshit Rana claimed his first wicket of the day via a subtly-disguised off-cutter. That was only half the job done, though, as the other half of the job was courtesy of a brilliant grab from Shubman Gill, racing to his right from mid-off. At the end of 30 overs, England were 169/3.

Root brought up his 40th ODI half-century in the 39th over, the same over in which Jos Buttler was dismissed. It was yet another commendable take by Gill, this time diving forward at mid-off. Ravindra Jadeja once again ended up as India's most-economical bowler on the day. He ended up with figures of 3/35 in his allotted quota. Once again, the tourists ended up getting bowled out. However, they had finished strong; ending up adding 135 in their final 20 overs.      

India added a couple of runs more than the tourists in their powerplay. Right from the outset, Rohit Sharma looked primed for a big score with the manner in which he was timing the ball with the utmost of ease. The powerplay was quite eventful for reasons other than the Indian skipper's blistering knock. There was a delay by around half-an-hour due to a faulty tower at the venue. Rohit's 30-ball half-century was his first for India after 11 innings across formats. 

It seemed as if Rohit was batting on a different track altogether. Jamie Overton brought about the first dismissal of the innings with India's score on 136. Gill could do nothing against an unplayable ripper which beat him for pace at the end, taking out the off-stump. Virat Kohli was caught behind by a massive, turning delivery by Adil Rashid. Rohit brought up his 32nd ODI ton off just 76 deliveries, his second-fastest in the format. With that, he surpassed Rahul Dravid's aggregate of 48 international centuries for India.     

Ironically, a rank full-toss by Liam Livingstone brought an end to a remarkable knock by Rohit. Axar Patel joined Shreyas Iyer to the middle, owing to the hosts' adamance to sticking with the left-right combination. The two were complementing each other quite well, before a needless attempt to steal a run brought about Iyer's downfall at the non-striker's end. A few minutes after executing a lovely hook to the deep backward square-leg fence, KL Rahul perished while doing so to a Jamie Overton delivery which did not come on as quickly as the batter expected.   

Hardik walked back for the same score as KL. However, the left-handed duo of Axar and Jadeja saw out the remainder of the innings. India ended up clinching a four-wicket victory. With this, they clinched the series too. England were once again good in phases, but could not make much out of the crucial moments. This was India's seventh consecutive ODI series win against England.

Check out how X reacted to the second ODI between IND and ENG

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India vs England 2025IndiaEnglandRohit Sharma