India Claims unassailable 2-0 lead in Paytm Ind vs Eng series

Cuttack: India claimed an unassailable lead in the three match Paytm Ind vs Eng series by winning the 2nd ODI by 15 runs and will go into the final ODI with nothing to loose. Earlier after winning the toss, India had posted an mammoth total of 381-6, thanks to the brilliant centuries by Ms Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh who scored 132 and 150 respectively. While K. Jadhav and Hardik Pandya played striking cameos towards the end of the innings. England were impressive in their run chase with captain Eoin Morgan leading the attack with an well-made 102 off 81 balls with Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy scoring half centuries in a loosing cause. Ravi Ashwin was the pick of the bowler for India with figures of 3-60 in his 10 overs, while Jadeja also made a remarkable contribution with his economic 10 overs conceding only 45 runs on a high scoring match. But it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who held the nerves for the host in the dead overs with impressive spell when the opposition was counter-attacking the Indian bowlers. Delighted Virat Kohli after winning his first series as full-time captain was all praise for the senior duo of Dhoni and Yuvraj, he also expressed his concern for the early crumble of the top order leaving the team at 20-3 at one stage when the duo took the charge., and hoped to put on a better show in Kolkata. Yuvraj Singh was awarded Man of the Match for his Match-winning knock which saw the veteran batsman hit 21 fours and 3 sixes. The final ODI of the series is scheduled to be played at Eden Gardens Kolkata on Jan 22 before the two sides will lock horns for t20 series.   Report edited by I. Zaorez Shabab