India vs England: Second ODI Review

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Dan in 40/50-over

In a sentence

It was like 1992/3 all over again as India walked to a comfortable victory of an England team which looks ill-fitting for subcontinental conditions.

Player of the match

It can only really be Virat Kohli for a quite marvellous century off just 89 balls.  His range of stroke marks him out as the outstanding candidate to fill the boots of whichever of India’s famous middle order retires from Test cricket first.  Gautam Gambhir also provided good support while Tim Bresnan was the sole England bowler to record respectable looking figures.

 

Moment of the match

It can only be the (again,  nostalgia inducing) start of the England innings with both openers back in the hutch and the score 0/2.  There was a controversial moment when Gambhir was bowled by Bresnan but the ball was called dead milliseconds earlier as the Indian batsman backed away; however, we can state with almost as much certainty as we can say that Samit Patel is not an international bowler (figures of 2-0-17-0 today, lovely stuff), that it would have made little difference to the final result had the wicket been given.

Outlook

In a reverse of the summer, all the momentum is with India and England are seriously floundering even at this early stage of the series.  The bowling attack is by turns inadequate (Dernbach), expensive (Finn) and useless (the combination of Patel/Bopara/Pietersen as fifth bowler); the batting continues to struggle against spin; Kieswetter continues to struggle at the top of the order.  Changes will surely be made with all of Ian Bell, Scott Borthwick and Chris Woakes candidates for a call-up.