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25 Overs India 114 for 3 (Kohli 35*, Raina 23*) v England
England bowlers removed India's openers early in the innings © BCCI
The series had switched from a cold winter in Delhi to the more humid climate of Kerala. Kochi, in tourist terms at least, is the gateway to the backwaters and India, 1-0 down in the series with four to play had no desire to take that particular trip.
Midway through their first innings, the second ODI was precariously balanced. India had lost three wickets, the openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane to the new ball and Yuvraj Singh to an erroneous lbw decision by Steve Davis who did not see - and certainly could not hear in a deafening atmosphere created by a crowd of around 70,000 - a deflection off the glove as he swept at James Tredwell. With no DRS in use, he had to take his punishment, although he did not do so without a stray comment or two.
Suresh Raina, in by the 16th over, was not inhibited by a potentially long time to bat and in Tredwell's next over he slog-swept him for six. Kohli was more considerate, but he too cleared the ropes, depositing Samit Patel over extra cover. Of England's bonus allrounder in the opening match, Joe Root, who bowled nine overs relatively unscathed, there was something of a reality check as he received no early opportunity.
It was a new Kochi pitch, liable to get slower and lower as the match progressed, leaving India's captain MS Dhoni with a straightforward decision to bat upon winning the toss. England must find all this international cricket on newly-laid surfaces strange, if not disconcerting. There was a time, certainly in England, when pitches were studied for years before they were deemed suitable for the international game, but modern life has no truck with patience and they are brought into service in no time.
India's opening pair did not survive long on it. Gambhir and Rahane had both departed by the fifth over. England's new-ball pair, Steve Finn and Jade Dernbach, had clamoured for several lbw appeals, but it was by hitting the stumps that they eventually prospered.
Dernbach's nip-backer to bowl Gambhir through the gate was a delivery made to order. There are few more productive, or less convincing, shots in ODIs than Gambhir's dab through gully for four, bat hanging away from his body and he had played it the previous ball much to the bowler's frustration. The ball which cut back was the classic retort.
Finn also brought a delivery back in his next over, late inswing accounting for Rahane as he shuffled across his crease. At 18 for 2, with notable movement for the new ball, India were under pressure. Virat Kohli's first boundary came with an attempted cut which flew off the inside edge to the fine-leg boundary. Yuvraj was hit on the body attempting to pull. It was the eighth over before Yuvraj punched Dernbach through the covers to revive the crowd.
England bowlers removed India's openers early in the innings © BCCI
The series had switched from a cold winter in Delhi to the more humid climate of Kerala. Kochi, in tourist terms at least, is the gateway to the backwaters and India, 1-0 down in the series with four to play had no desire to take that particular trip.
Midway through their first innings, the second ODI was precariously balanced. India had lost three wickets, the openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane to the new ball and Yuvraj Singh to an erroneous lbw decision by Steve Davis who did not see - and certainly could not hear in a deafening atmosphere created by a crowd of around 70,000 - a deflection off the glove as he swept at James Tredwell. With no DRS in use, he had to take his punishment, although he did not do so without a stray comment or two.
Suresh Raina, in by the 16th over, was not inhibited by a potentially long time to bat and in Tredwell's next over he slog-swept him for six. Kohli was more considerate, but he too cleared the ropes, depositing Samit Patel over extra cover. Of England's bonus allrounder in the opening match, Joe Root, who bowled nine overs relatively unscathed, there was something of a reality check as he received no early opportunity.
It was a new Kochi pitch, liable to get slower and lower as the match progressed, leaving India's captain MS Dhoni with a straightforward decision to bat upon winning the toss. England must find all this international cricket on newly-laid surfaces strange, if not disconcerting. There was a time, certainly in England, when pitches were studied for years before they were deemed suitable for the international game, but modern life has no truck with patience and they are brought into service in no time.
India's opening pair did not survive long on it. Gambhir and Rahane had both departed by the fifth over. England's new-ball pair, Steve Finn and Jade Dernbach, had clamoured for several lbw appeals, but it was by hitting the stumps that they eventually prospered.
Dernbach's nip-backer to bowl Gambhir through the gate was a delivery made to order. There are few more productive, or less convincing, shots in ODIs than Gambhir's dab through gully for four, bat hanging away from his body and he had played it the previous ball much to the bowler's frustration. The ball which cut back was the classic retort.
Finn also brought a delivery back in his next over, late inswing accounting for Rahane as he shuffled across his crease. At 18 for 2, with notable movement for the new ball, India were under pressure. Virat Kohli's first boundary came with an attempted cut which flew off the inside edge to the fine-leg boundary. Yuvraj was hit on the body attempting to pull. It was the eighth over before Yuvraj punched Dernbach through the covers to revive the crowd.