Staff Reporter.
Jonny Bairstow struck a magnificent century and Ben Stokes a brutal 99 in an emphatic England chase of 337 to beat India in the second one-day international in Pune.
Their second-wicket stand of 175 came at nine runs an over, completely decimating the India attack.
Even though England lost three wickets for two runs in nine balls, the chase – comfortably England’s highest in India and their fifth-best of all-time – was completed with 6.3 overs to spare.
It made India’s 336-6 – built on a measured 108 from KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant’s thrilling 77 – look meagre.
The series, now level at 1-1, will be decided on Sunday.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes: “We didn’t stray from our values as a team. It was a great chase, and we’re happy to get over the line quite easily, especially as India set a challenging total.
“Over the years we’ve set big totals, we’ve chased big totals, we don’t really fear them. We always encourage our players to take the positive option. We expressed ourselves as we always do.”
India captain Virat Kohli: “We set a decent total. We started off really well with the new ball, but I thought England batted brilliantly well. That is some of the most amazing batting you could see.”
England captain Jos Buttler: “I’m delighted with the response of the guys. We put in a very good bowling performance to restrict India to that total. The way the guys batted, the intent and the partnerships, made it a brilliant chase.”
Man of the match Jonny Bairstow: “I thought we were excellent in the last game, so today we had the same plan. Ben played some entertaining shots and it was a case of getting him on strike.”