Bairstow, Stokes put India to the sword as England level the ODI series 1-1

On certain days, England’s approach can lead them astray and feel like a careless mess. But, on the days it comes off, there’s absolutely no stopping them. On Friday night, it was a case of the latter as, despite a slump where they lost 3 key wickets, it hardly had a bearing on the result of the game. The visitors levelled the ODI series with their highest-ever run-chase against India by a fair margin.

While the beauty of the ODI format lies in the plethora of little narratives it throws up, the Stokes-Bairstow partnership took the cake on a Friday evening. Prior to this game, the highest successful chase by England against India was 241. But on the evening, 337 was made to feel like a hundred short. Such was the dominance in batting by the English duo - Bairstow getting a deserved century, while Stokes missed out by a solitary run - pretty much ensured there was no way back for Team India.

Yet another century opening partnership between Roy and Bairstow set up the base before an all-out assault by Stokes who was not particularly severe on anyone bowler but approached his innings with such blinding single-mindedness that it left the Indian bowlers dazed in its wake. By the time the Bairstow-Stokes duo fell in quick succession, and the England captain for the day Jos Buttler was castled by a perfect Prasidh Krishna yorker, even a comeback felt like all but false hope. Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan ensured no more hiccups for England.

Earlier in the day, a fabulous century by KL Rahul who silenced his critics by closing himself off to all the noise, as his celebrations would indicate, took India to 336. While first, his 121-run partnership with Captain Virat Kohli boated India out of troubled waters, the partnership with Rishabh Pant allowed India to set sails into the distant 300 waters. Audacious single-handed shots at one end from Pant and nonchalant class from the other by KL Rahul put the English bowling to the sword. Hardik Pandya joined in on the fun in the last 5 overs. The last 10 overs yielded a massive 127 runs, but on the day it proved a little too short against the English onslaught. 

Pune has thrown up two fabulous ODI tracks with something in it for the bowlers, while not forcing the batsmen to forego their attacking instincts. India will be concerned about the lack of impact the spinners have had in the ODI series. 35 overs at 283/1 from the spinners will at least leave a lingering thought for the inclusion of Yuvendra Chahal for the series decider on Sunday.