India eye series in Cuttack

Cuttack, January 18

A flamboyant Indian team, which has converted chasing down incredible targets into an art, will aim for a series-clinching victory against England in the second ODI here tomorrow. With chase master Virat Kohli churning out magical knocks consistently, no score looks big and daunting enough for India.

England must be feeling a bit deflated after having failed to defend a total of 350, especially after reducing the hosts to 63/4. Besides, India have a good record at the Barabati Stadium, having won 11 out of the 15 ODIs here.

Dhawan, Yuvraj in spotlight

Following the spectacular win, India, unlike England, would head into the contest high on confidence. However, the team would be mindful of their top-order collapse and the bowlers leaking 350 runs in the first game. Among the batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan, who looked quite scratchy in his brief knock in Pune, would be a little worried. He needs to hit form at the earliest to save his spot in the side; Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a solid 83-ball 91 in a warm-up game, is waiting with baited breath to get back into the playing XI. Besides, the imminent return of Rohit Sharma and young Rishabh Pant impressing one and all with his blistering strokeplay will build more pressure on Dhawan. Yuvraj Singh, too, will be keenly watched. Having returned to the side after three years, he will need to come up with match-winning knocks to justify his recall.

Ordinary bowling

At Pune, the bowlers looked ordinary. While the pacers struggled to get their line and length right, India’s strike bowler R Ashwin had a pretty rough outing. Both Kohli and coach Anil Kumble will hope for Ashwin to find his rhythm back in Cuttack, and stop the daunting England batting line-up from running up a huge total.

Tough for England

England would need to come up with something very special to stop India from winning the three-match series in Cuttack. England skipper Eoin Morgan will need to find a way to boost up the morale of his battered bowlers, and make them believe that they could stop the raging Kohli. Barring Chris Woakes and David Willey’s twin breakthroughs early on, the English attack lacked intensity, and was quite wayward too. England indeed have a fearsome batting line-up but they can’t see the team home if the bowlers continue to look as helpless and clueless as in Pune.

Cuttack numbers

11 Number of matches India have won in Cuttack out of 15

153* The highest knock at the stadium, by Mohammad Azharuddin against Zimbabwe in 1997-98

4/27 Best bowling figures, by West Indies’ Darren Powell against India in 2006-07

363 Highest total here, by India against Sri Lanka in 2014-15

169 The lowest total here, by West Indies against India in 2006-07

273/4 Highest successful chase, by India against England in 2008-09