India vs England: Joe Root scores unbeaten 99 to secure series-levelling four-wicket victory in Cardiff | Cricket News

Joe Root notched a stunning 99no to deliver again for his country as England secured a thrilling four-wicket win to level the one-day international series against India at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

The sparkling innings of Virat Kohli (65 off 66) and Shreyas Iyer (66 off 71) were not enough to fight off a blistering pace attack that took seven Indian wickets for just 55 runs, with Jofra Archer (3-47) and Gus Atkinson (3-50) starring for an England side that struggled without enough seamers in their series-opening loss at Edgbaston.

The composed Root, though, settled England’s nerves after they fell to 125-5, putting on a 72-run stand with Will Jacks (30), and was able to see his side home alongside Gus Atkinson (23no), reaching their target of 234 with 5.5 overs to spare.

England’s win ends a six-game ODI losing streak against India and sets up a blockbuster series finale in the third and final match at Lord’s on Sunday, live on Sky Sports from 11am.

Classy Root leads England to victory to keep series alive

India captain Shubman Gill (31) looked in fine fettle after making 80 in Birmingham on Tuesday, but was dismissed by a brilliant Duckett catch. Fellow opener Rohit Sharma (26) – dropped by Atkinson on five – was eventually sent packing by Will Jacks (1-21) after putting on a fifty stand with the purposeful Kohli, with wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan (1) falling to Sam Curran (1-23) caught and bowled swiftly afterwards.

Kohli then paired brilliantly with Shreyas as the two shared a 67-run partnership, but sliced a poor shot off Archer straight to Adil Rashid on the boundary, triggering an avalanche of important wickets that saw Washington Sundar (2), Axar Patel (1) and Shivam Dube (0) dismissed for 12 runs, with Patel and Dube falling in successive Archer deliveries to leave India reeling at 193-7 having been 178-3.

The determined Shreyas hung in, aided by cameos from Jasprit Bumrah (20no) and Gurnoor Brar (7), but the T20 skipper was eventually subject to a tame dismissal from Atkinson, and was swiftly followed by Prasidh Krishna (0) just three balls later as India were skittled with six overs to spare, with a well below par score of 234 to defend.

England, though, were rattled instantly as opening pair Duckett (0) – who Bumrah nicked off with the first ball of the innings – and Bethell (4) were both caught behind to leave England 8-2, before skipper Harry Brook (16) top-edged to Kishan after a flurry of unorthodox shots in the 11th over.

The wickets of Curran (25) and Jos Buttler (17) left the game in the balance at 125-5 after 25 overs with Jacks the only recognised batter left for England.

But the ever-reliable Root – one run away from his 62nd international century, which would have taken him level with South Africa legend Jacques Kallis – resisted Indian pressure to lead his team to a win and add another masterful innings to his glorious career.

Root: The best feeling in cricket

England’s Player of the Match Joe Root:

“In those conditions, on that pitch, to be there at the end and get the job done is probably the best feeling you can get in cricket.

“[I was left on 99] but that is not what you play for. You play to win games and this series is very much alive.

“It was difficult to bat in the whole game. We did a brilliant job to peg India back and that allowed us to bat time and soak up pressure.

“I thought we did that well as a whole. Sometimes you need to win scrappy and ugly and we now go to Lord’s with everything to play for.”

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