Raina hits 100 in 75 balls as India thump England by 133 runs in second ODI at Cardiff
Suresh Raina smashed his first century outside the sub-continent as India began their one-day campaign on a resounding note when they trounced England by 133 runs in the second ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series at Sophia Gardens, here on Wednesday.
Put into bat, India, who are looking to put their Test debacle behind them in the limited-overs format, rode Raina’s 75-ball 100 to post a challenging 304 for six in 50 overs.
The 144-run fifth-wicket partnership between Raina, who registered his fourth ODI century, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52) was the highlight of the Indian innings.
Rain forced a delayed start to the England innings and the Duckworth-lewis method revised the hosts’ target to 295 in 47 overs. The hosts were bundled for 161 in 38.1 overs as Indian bowlers for once made their presence felt in English conditions.
England opener Alex Hales (40), who was handed his debut cap by skipper Alastair Cook in the morning, was the highest scorer in a disappointing scorecard. The hosts slumped from 54 for no loss to 85 for five and the slide continued with the overcast conditions doing little to save the batting collapse.
left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (4-28) was India’s leading wicket-taker after medium-pacer Mohammad Shami (2-32) did the early damage. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-38) took care of the finishing act while new-ball bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-30) and Raina (1-12) also picked up a wicket each.
Shami started the rot in his third over by sending back Cook lBW for 19 and cleaning up Ian Bell for 1. Bhuvneshwar cleaned bowled Joe Root for 4 and Jadeja then turned on the heat to make short work of the England middle and lower-order. The first match of the series was washed off due to persistent rains in Bristol while the focus now shifts to the third ODI at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
Dhoni heaved a sigh of relief after his team turned its fortunes around and he termed India’s performance as “good format to come back into form” following the Test series debacle.
“In the next three matches we’ll have more support than the England team which is unusual at times. You can’t play one-dimensional cricket, it’s a good format to come back into form,” Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony.
“The start is always crucial, the first 10 overs was not about the runs we scored and it was important to not lose wickets. If we have a good stand after 30 overs we will double the score.”
“losing too many early wickets puts pressure on the players who play big shots and it’s not always easy. Rohit and Shikhar batted well early on.”
Dhoni felt there was just the “right amount of rain” to help his spinners.
England skipper Alastair Cook said his team was not upto the mark. “We didn’t play very well at all. Credit to Suresh and MS, they took the game away from us and we were slow to react. But it wasn’t a 160-wicket. We didn’t turn up in any of our departments. We have to dust ourselves down, come back and play better,” Cook said.
Cook said there was a lot of talent in his and side and that it would make a comeback.
Man of the Match Raina said, “The wicket was really good. I thought if I batted until 45th over we could put a target on the board. “I’ve seen a lot of the Test matches, I was looking forward to this game. I’ve worked really hard on my batting and fitness.”