After losing the first ODI, England came back strongly to level the three-match series, at Pune. Asked to bat first, India got 336/6. KL Rahul (108 in 114 balls) and Virat Kohli (66 in 79) added 121 runs but left the acceleration for too late. It was not until Rishabh Pant (77 in 40) began his onslaught that the runs started to flow. For England, while Adil Rashid (10-0-65-1) got Kohli, Moeen Ali (10-0-47-0) did not concede a single boundary.
England began ominously, with Jason Roy (55 in 52) and Jonny Bairstow (124 in 112) adding 110 in under 100 balls. Whatever chance India had went out of the window once Ben Stokes (99 in 52) launched his onslaught. England won by 6 wickets with 39 balls to spare. The teams will now meet at the same venue for the decider. Ahead of the match, here is a statistical preview.
1 series or tournament won by England on Indian soil – back in 1984/85. England beat India 4-1 on that occasion. Since then, England’s best record have been two 3-3 draws, in 1992/93 and 2001/02.
1 uncapped player in the Indian squad – Suryakumar Yadav. He may become their 235th debutant.
1.206 India’s win-loss ratio (515 wins, 427 defeats), the third-most, after South Africa and Australia. With 1.121 (379 wins, 338 defeats), England are at fifth place.
1.233 India’s win-loss ratio against England (53 wins, 43 defeats), their second-best against any side with a 100-match cut-off. India have a ratio of 1.625 against Sri Lanka. England’s ratio (0.811) is their second-worst, just better than 0.75 against Australia.
2.681 England’s win-loss ratio over the last five years. India (2.37) are at second place.
4 catches needed by Ben Stokes (46) to become the eighth English non-wicketkeeper to hold 50 catches.
6 ODIs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, so far. India have won 3 (twice against England, once against New Zealand) and lost 3 (against Australia, West Indies, and England).
8 wickets needed by Yuzvendra Chahal (92) to become the 23rd Indian to take 100 wickets.
12 scores of fifty or more by Kohli, the joint most for India against England. Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina also have 12 each. The England record against India is 9, by Kevin Pietersen.
52 sixes in the ongoing series, the fourth-most in a series or tournament with 3 or fewer matches. The record is 57, set during Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in 2018/19. There are instances of 56 and 55 as well.
90 runs needed by Shikhar Dhawan (5,910) to become the 10th Indian to 6,000 runs.
143 runs needed by Jos Buttler (3,857) to become the 11th Englishman to 4,000 runs. He will also become the 10th to do this while keeping wickets. Among England wicketkeepers, only Alec Stewart (4,017) has done this.