In Cuttack, India’s cricket team surprised everyone by only using two main fast bowlers in their match against England. Hardik Pandya joined the bowling attack early, around the sixth over. India had quite a few spin bowlers to choose from with Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Varun Chakravarthy. In fact, England faced quite a lot of spin in their first ten overs of batting.
England ended their innings with a total of 304 runs, but this was still the lowest score at the Barabati Stadium since 2011. At one point, they were looking strong, reaching 200 runs for the loss of just 3 wickets by the 35th over. However, they slowed down, which hurt their chances of a big finish. Two reasons for this included their struggle to score when the ball wasn’t coming fast, and Jadeja’s great bowling, which stopped their run flow.
Ravindra Jadeja was the star for India, taking 3 wickets for 35 runs. While other bowlers were giving away runs, Jadeja was accurate and tricky with his spin. He bowled different kinds of balls that made it hard for the batsmen. Not only that, but he also got rid of England’s important players, Ben Duckett and Joe Root.
Duckett, who was looking very strong, got out at a critical moment. Jadeja made him play a wide ball that he couldn’t resist, leading to an easy catch for Hardik Pandya.
Joe Root fell to a surprising delivery from Jadeja. It was a slow ball that didn’t leave him any chance to hit a big shot. When Joe tried to drive the ball, it went straight to Virat Kohli, leading to one of the simplest dismissals in his career.
These key wickets changed the game’s flow. Duckett seemed ready to score big when he got out, and that seemed to shake England’s confidence. Even though it wasn’t a difficult pitch to bat on, Jadeja’s skills shone through, making him the difference-maker for India.
India’s bowling wasn’t perfect that day. England scored 181 runs off fast bowling and 121 runs off spin. Although Chakravarthy took a wicket, neither Axar Patel nor he bowled tightly. But Jadeja’s performance gave India the edge they needed to win the day.
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