Ind vs Eng: Indian openers fall early in 2nd ODI

NEW DELHI: England pacers Jade Dernbach and Steven Finn put India in a spot of bother by dismissing openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane respectively in the second one-day international at Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Tuesday. Scorecard  Dernbach gave England the first breakthrough when he clean bowled Gambhir in the fourth over and in the next over Finn castled the stumps of Rahane. Dernbach bowled a length delivery on off that nipped back in sharply, Gambhir, without any footwork, looked to drive but the inward movement did him in as the ball sneaked through and rattled the timber. In the next over Finn bowled a good length delivery outside off that nipped back in sharply after landing. Rahane was caught in his crease as he looked to defend but was late in getting his bat down. The ball went through the gap and disturbed the stumps. The breakthroughs came after Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat. India have replaced Ashok Dinda with Shami Ahmed, while England have brought in Chris Woakes in place of an unfit Tim Bresnan. Any slip-up in this match would mean that India would be 0-2 down in the five-match series and winning the series from there would be quite an ask. With Kochi offering another batting-friendly surface, the onus would be on the batsmen to put India in a position of strength. Far too often in the recent past, the Indian top-order has shown a tendency to cave in under pressure. Indian bowlers too will have to pull up their socks. They had given a better account of themselves in the series against Pakistan, but cut a sorry figure in Rajkot. The win in Rajkot would have only increased England's self-belief. After winning a historic Test series in India recently, they are now eyeing a double by clinching the ODI series too. Teams: India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed. England: Alastair Cook (Capt.), Ian Bell, Kevin Petersen, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter, Samit Patel, James Tredwell, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach, Chris Woakes. Times of India.