England Defeats India by 4 Wickets to Level Series 1-1

Cardiff. England has leveled the three-match series 1-1 by defeating India by 4 wickets in the second one-day match. Chasing a target of 234 runs at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday night, the home team achieved victory by losing 6 wickets in 44.1 overs.

Joe Root became the hero of England's victory. He remained unbeaten on 99 runs and was declared the player of the match. The deciding match of the series will now be played on July 19 at Lord's ground.

Earlier, the Indian team, which batted first after losing the toss, had a quick start. Captain Shubman Gill scored 31 runs and Rohit Sharma scored 26 runs, adding 44 runs for the first wicket. After Gill got out, Rohit and Virat Kohli added a 60-run partnership for the second wicket.

After Rohit got out, Ishan Kishan quickly returned to the pavilion. But Virat, along with Shreyas Iyer, added 67 runs for the fourth wicket, putting the team in a position of 178/3. Virat contributed 65 runs off 66 balls, while Shreyas contributed 66 runs off 71 balls.

At one point, India seemed to be heading towards a big score, but as soon as Virat got out, the Indian innings faltered. The team lost its last 7 wickets by adding just 55 more runs. In the end, Jasprit Bumrah scored an unbeaten 20 runs off 13 balls, taking the team's score to 233. India was all out in 44 overs.

England bowlers Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson took 3 wickets each. Sakib Mahmood took 2 wickets, and Sam Curran and Will Jacks took 1 wicket each.

England's start chasing the target of 234 runs was very poor. Jasprit Bumrah got Ben Duckett caught by wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan on the very first ball of the match.

After that, Prasidh Krishna got Jacob Bethell out, putting England's score at 8/2. Immediately after, Gurnoor Brar showed captain Harry Brook the way to the pavilion.

After the initial setbacks, Root steadied the innings, adding 41 runs with Sam Curran and then 31 runs with Jos Buttler, saving England from crisis. After Buttler got out, India had strengthened its hold on the game. But Will Jacks gave strong support to Root. These two built the foundation for victory by adding a 72-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

After Jacks got out in the 40th over, Gus Atkinson, who came into the field, scored an unbeaten 23 runs off 16 balls. He, along with Root, made an unbeaten 38-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

With only 1 run needed for victory, Atkinson finished the game by hitting a four off Prasidh Krishna's ball. Due to that four, Root was forced to remain unbeaten on 99. With this, he became the 17th batsman in ODI cricket history to remain unbeaten on 99. Bidhan