LONDON: Tall left-arm quick Reece Topley claimed his career-best figures in ODI cricket as England defeated India by 100 runs in the second ODI at Lord's on Thursday to level the three-match series at 1-1.
After the Indian bowlers, led by Yuzvendra Chahal (4-47) bowled out England for 246, Topley made use of the favourable conditions and varied his pace to pick 6-24 in 9.5 overs, the best figures by any England bowler in ODI history as India crashed to 146 all out in 38.5 overs, taking the series to a winner-takes-it-all decider at Manchester on Sunday.
With England finding some nip off the pitch, they were able to keep Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in check with maidens in the first two overs. To'ley's show began by taking out Sharma for a ten-ball duck, getting one to come and hit the back pad.
Virat Kohli, back after a groin niggle kept him out of the first ODI, looked gorgeous while playing a straight drive, on drive and cover drive against Topley. But the tall left-arm quick came back strongly to take out a scratchy Dhawan, getting him to flick off his gloves and carried behind to Buttler.
India continued to wither under pressure as Rishabh Pant smacked a Brydon Carse full toss straight to mid-on. In the next over, left-arm quick David Willey claimed the big scalp of Kohli as he tried to chase a wide ball away from the body and gave an easy catch to Buttler.
From 31-4, Suryakumar Yadav tried to get India's chase on track through a 42-run partnership with Hardik Pandya. But Topley, coming back for his second spell, made an immediate impact, cramping a fluent Yadav for room and chopped onto his stumps.
Pandya then had a brief 28-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, which was snapped by Moeen Ali bowling a wide ball away fro' the former's hitting arc. By then, Pandya was into the sweep and holed out to square leg. Mohammed Shami played the long handle to perfection, hitting two fours and a majestic lofted six down the ground.
But Topley brought back for his third spell of the day, got Shami to miscue a fuller slower ball in the air, and was caught by a charging mid-on. Liam Livingstone immediately struck with his part-time spin as Jadeja was clean-bowled while going for a flick. Topley claimed his five-fer by castling Chahal and two balls later, got Prasidh Krishna to edge behind to Buttler to seal a resounding win for England after a ten-wicket thrashing in the first ODI.
Earlier, Chahal scalped four big wickets in the middle overs to lead another brilliant bowling show for India. It was a da' on which India's bowlers struck at regular intervals, pushing England on the backfoot to deliver a strong performance with the ball.
Brief scores: England 246 in 49 overs (Moeen Ali 47, David Willey 41; Yuzvendra Chahal 4-47, Hardik Pandya 2-28) beat India 146 in 38.5 overs (Hardik Pandya 29, Ravindra Jadeja 29; Reece Topley 6-24, Liam Livingstone 1-4) by 100 runs. IANS
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