India vs England: Joe Root scores an unbeaten 99 to level the series by four wickets in Cardiff. cricket news

Joe Root scored a stunning 99 to deliver again for his country as England sealed a thrilling four-wicket win to level the ODI series against India at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

Sparkling innings from Virat Kohli (65 off 66) and Shreyas Iyer (66 off 71) were not enough to combat a scintillating pace attack that took seven Indian wickets for just 55 runs, with Jofra Archer (3-47) and Gus Atkinson (3-50) doing enough for England without much of a fight. Series opener loss at Edgbaston.

A composed route, however, settled England’s nerves as they slumped to 125-5, a 72-run stand with Will Jacks (30) and Gus Atkinson (no 23) managing to see his side home, reaching the target of 234 with 5.5 overs to spare.

England’s win ended a six-match ODI losing streak against India and set up a blockbuster series finale in the third and final match at Lord’s on Sunday. Live on Sky Sports From 11 am.

Classy Root took England to victory to save the series

India skipper Shubman Gill (31) was in fine form after scoring 80 in Birmingham on Tuesday, but was dismissed by a brilliant Duckett. Fellow opener Rohit Sharma (26) – dropped by Atkinson for five – eventually sent Will Jacks (1-21) packing after a stand-up fifty with a purposeful Kohli, wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan (1) caught by Sam Curran (1-23) and quickly bowled.

Kohli then paired brilliantly with Shreyas as the two put on a 67-run stand, but cut a weak shot from Archer straight to the boundary to Adil Rashid, triggering an avalanche of crucial wickets that saw Washington Sundar (2), Akshar Patel (1) and Shivam Dubey (0) fall to Archer’s 1 run. The delivery pushed India to 193-7 as the delivery was 178-3.

A determined Shreyas hung on, aided by cameos from Jasprit Bumrah (20) and Gurnur Brar (7), but the T20 captain was eventually dismissed by Atkinson and was quickly followed by Prasidh Krishna (0) just three balls later as India slipped to 4 for 4 in 4 overs. protection

England, however, were immediately rattled as the opening pair of Duckett (0) – who was dropped by Bumrah on the first ball of the innings – and Bethel (4) were both caught behind to leave England 8-2, before skipper Harry Brooke (16) top-edged to Kishan after an unorthodox 1 over scramble.

The wickets of Curran (25) and Jos Buttler (17) left the game in the balance at 125-5 after 25 overs, with England’s only recognized batsmen remaining.

But the ever-reliable Root – one run away from his 62nd international century, which would take him level with South African legend Jacques Kallis – resisted the Indian pressure to lead his side to victory and add another brilliant innings to his illustrious career.

Root: The best feeling in cricket

England Player of the Match Joe Root:

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

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

“The batting was tough throughout the game. We did a great job of pushing India back and that allowed us to reduce the batting time and pressure.

“I thought we did it well overall. Sometimes you have to win the dirty and the ugly and we go to Lord’s now with everything to play for.”

England vs India Result and Game Play

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