England captain Jos Buttler was delighted after they won the second ODI by 100 runs against India at the Lord’s on Thursday to leve the series 1-1. The hosts could only manage 246 runs on the board after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first.
However, Jos Buttler-led team was able to bounce back in the second innings as they skittled out India at 146 to win by a huge margin. Reece Topley provided a perfect start to his team as he plumbed Indian captain Rohit Sharma in front of the wickets. Subsequently, Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed on an innocuous delivery down the leg-side.
Rishabh Pant was dismissed without troubling the scorers as he hit a full toss straight to mid-on. David Willey got the big wicket of Virat Kohli, who was looking good at the crease but once again played away from the body, which led to his downfall. Hardik Pandya played a poor shot whereas the in-form Suryakumar Yadav, who was batting with aplomb was dismissed by Reece Topley.
Jos Buttler said in the post-match presentation, “Delighted with the response from the guys. Didn’t bat our best, but got a challenging score. And the way the guys bowled was fantastic. Traditionally has been a bat-first wicket here. Willey and Ali put on a great partnership. Needed to take early wickets, put them under pressure straightaway. 6/24, what a special day (for Topley). Team has been doing some great things over a number of years. That brings a pressure that we want to continue that. Always a great place to go and play, especially with the series at 1-1.”
Reece Topley was the pick of the England bowlers as he returned with figures of 6-24, which is the best for any English bowler in the 50-overs version of the game. The lanky paceman accounted for Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna.
Topley was delighted with his performance and was happy to contribute to the team’s success. The left-arm pacer bowled in the right areas and got extra bounce from the Lord’s pitch to get his rewards.
Topley said in the post-match presentation after he was awarded the Player of the Match, “Terrific team performance to bounce back from the other day. Happy to play my part. Means a lot, makes it all worthwhile. Had surgery like three years ago over the back of that stand. It’s everyone’s dream to play for England. Play my part to win games. Big game at the weekend, got to prepare for that, and then look back at the series.”
The third ODI, which will be a decider, will be played at Manchester on Sunday.
