India thrash England again in huge win

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New Delhi (AFP): World champions India rattled England once again with bat and ball to win the second one-dayer by eight wickets on Monday and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Seamer Vinay Kumar returned with his best international figures of four for 30 as a lacklustre England were shot out for 237 in good batting conditions at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi.

Virat Kohli then smashed an unbeaten 112, his seventh one-day century, and Gautam Gambhir made 84 not out as the under-strength hosts surpassed the modest target under lights in the 37th over.

Tempers flared in the second session between England's fielders and India's batsmen, forcing the umpires to intervene on at least three occasions.

India, depleted by the absence of seven World Cup-winning stars due to injury or poor form, will wrap up the series if they win the third match in Mohali on Thursday. The hosts had won the first game in Hyderabad by 126 runs last Friday.

A series win will help Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men make amends for the disastrous tour of England recently where they were blanked 4-0 in the Test series before losing the one-dayers 3-0.

Kevin Pietersen's 46 was the top score for England as wickets tumbled at regular intervals after captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat on an easy-paced pitch. Fast bowler Tim Bresnan gave England a lifeline when he removed both openers, Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane, by the seventh over to make India 29-2.

But Delhi team-mates Kohli and Gambhir delighted some 30,000 home fans with an 209-run winning partnership to take India home. England had made a disastrous start, losing openers Cook and Craig Kieswetter before a run had been scored.

Cook slashed the fifth ball from Praveen Kumar to point, while Kieswetter edged Vinay to Kohli at slip in the second over. The shackles were broken when Praveen conceded 17 runs in his third over as Jonathan Trott smashed three consecutive fours and Pietersen also helped himself to a boundary.

Trott made a fluent 34 with seven fours when he was caught behind off Vinay to reduce England to 48-3 by the 10th over. Ravi Bopara helped Pietersen add 73 for the fourth wicket before India hit back by removing both batsmen in the space of four deliveries.

Bopara was leg-before to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for 36 and Pietersen was caught behind chasing a wide ball from seamer Umesh Yadav.

Samit Patel and Jonathan Bairstow carried the total past the 200-run mark from a shaky 121-5, adding 86 for the sixth wicket before both fell in quick succession. Patel (42) was trapped leg-before by Yadav and Bairstow holed out in the deep off Ravindra Jadeja after making 35.