Raina, Spinners Deliver Emphatic Cricket Win In England

In coloured clothing and with the white ball, Indian team is a transformed unit. Wednesday provided ample proof of that as they outclassed England in the second ODI at Cardiff by 133 runs to take 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

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Chasing 305, England's target was revised after rain delayed their reply. By the time the opening pair of Alastair Cook and Alex Hales had walked in, their target was reset to 295 in 47 overs by Duckworth-Lewis method. They began well, swiftly going past 50 runs in 10 overs. However, the 11^th over, bowled by Mohammed Shami, changed it all as England lost two wickets in it. First, Cook (19) was trapped in front, although he can consider himself a bit unlucky for the ball had pitched outside leg and then for some reason, Ian Bell (1) left a straight delivery that hit his off-stump. Next man in Joe Root (4) departed quickly after being cleaned up by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Hales (40), making his debut, unleashed himself as per his reputation and kept finding boundaries regularly early on. However, the fall of wickets in quick succession bogged him down as he went inside a shell as runs dried up – both for the 25-year-old and the England team. With the required run-rate climbing, someone had to open up and in his endeavour to look for quick runs, Hales was caught by R Ashwin off Ravindra Jadeja in the 21^st over with England sliding to 81/4.

Those that followed failed to make any impact with the Indian bowlers calling the shots, striking at regular interval. The team that dominated their guests in an imposing fashion in the longer formats, submitted meekly losing by 133 runs. For India, Jadeja starred with the bowl picking 4/28 while Shami and Ashwin took two wickets apiece.

Earlier, a strokeful, chanceless century from Suresh Raina helped India to 304/6. Raina scored 100 (75, 12X4, 3X6) while building a century stand worth 144 runs with captain MS Dhoni (52) as India recovered from early shocks to post a strong total. India were off to a shaky, nervous start after Cook inserted them in. The visitors were troubled by James Anderson and Chris Woakes early on as they tested them with pace and swing. The first two overs were played safely through without a run being scored. Both the India openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, though, opened their account with a boundary each but looked unconvincing in a slow start. Dhawan (11) seemed to carry his poor form from the Test series into the ODIs after edging Chris Woakes to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler in the eighth over. In the same over, Virat Kohli was out for a duck after his eagerness to dictate terms from the word go saw him dancing down the track for an uppish drive which went straight into the hands of Cook.

India were 19/2 and off to an ominous start. Considering how they reacted in such scenarios during the Test series, only worse was expected from them. But Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane calmed the nerves, settling in nicely, building a 91-run stand that revived the innings. Rahane played some lovely strokes and looked set for a big one but one moment of sluggishness got the better of him as he was stumped off James Tredwell for 41 in the 24^th over. On the other hand, Rohit's innings was a combination of some classy batting and few irresponsible strokes. He was beaten on numerous occasions but was lucky enough to not nick them. Four boundaries and a six off a free-hit helped him to a fifty before Woakes at mid-off caught his miscued shot off Tredwell.

However, the highlight of the innings was the partnership between captain Dhoni and Raina that lifted the Indians as the duo unfurled a flurry of strokes with the latter taking the centrestage. India managed just 26 runs besides losing two wickets in the first powerplay but with Raina and Dhoni they clobbered 62 in the second. Raina eventually departed after being caught in the deep by Anderson off Woakes.



Raina had set the tone early in his knock scoring a boundary off his third delivery. He sent the ball past the boundary line regularly with the shot of his innings being a straight hit over Woakes' head for a six. Even Anderson, the wrecker-in-chief during the Test series, wasn't spared as Raina flayed him for three successive fours in the 40^th over. He assessment and judgement of the deliveries was spot on and it was his innings that helped India to post a score in excess of 300.

England bowlers started well, bowling the right line and length exploiting the favourable conditions well after winning the all important toss. Woakes had taken two wickets while allowing just eight runs in his first spell of five overs. His was aptly rewarded for his accuracy all throughout, finishing with 4/52. However, as the innings progressed, with the batsman settling in, the England bowlers lost the grip. The biggest culprit of the slide being Chris Jordan who leaked 73 in 10 wicketless overs including one in which he bowled five wides. Tredwell also bowled decently for his 2/42 in 10 overs.

Brief Scores: India 304/6 (Raina 100, Dhoni 52, Rohit 52; Woakes 4/52) beat England 161 (Hales 40; Jadeja 4/28, Shami 2/32) by 133 runs.