England have been on a roll in ODI cricket, reaching a peak when they decimated the Australian bowling attack to score a world record 481/6. Ever since their poor performance in the 2015 World Cup, England have been a breath of fresh air in ODIs. Their attacking approach has meant that they are the team to beat in limited overs cricket.
India have also been relentless in ODIs and they travel to England to take on the hosts in a series comprising of 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs. Here we relive 8 eventful and memorable moments in the shorter formats between the two teams.
England vs India, ODI, at Headingley in Leeds, 13th July 1974
The first ODI was played between Australia and England on 5th January 1971, but India played their first ODI more than 3 years later. Their inexperience in the limited overs format showed.
England won the toss and put India in to bat. The visitors were dismissed for 265 with only Ajit Wadekar and Brijesh Patel making significant contributions of 67 and 82 respectively. The match was a stipulated 55 overs, but England won by 4 wickets with nearly 4 overs to spare.
England vs India, ODI, Prudential World Cup, at Lords, London, 7th Jun 1975
England opted to take first strike and scored a mammoth 334/4 off their allotted 60 overs. Once England posted such a tall score, the game was all but over. Still, one expected India to put in a decent show to boost their run rate.
Instead, Sunil Gavaskar infamously plodded his way to 36 not out off 174 balls as India managed just 132/3 off their 60 overs and lost by 202 runs. Gavaskar even gave a written explanation for his poor effort but that in no way absolves him from blame for scoring at such a slow pace.
England vs India, ODI, Natwest Trophy Final, 13th July 2002
Other than the 2 World Cup wins and 2 Champions Trophy titles that India has in their kitty, this victory is definitely India’s most memorable tournament win in ODIs. The reason is not just because it came it at Lords, the home of cricket, but more for the fact that they put in a superhuman effort to win from a position where even the most die hard Indian fan had given up hope.
Prior to this tournament, India had been playing great ODI cricket and seemed a genuine contender in the run-up to the 2003 World Cup. England posted 325/5 off their 50 overs, considered an almost unassailable total in 2002. India began their reply strongly with Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly putting on 106 for the first wicket. However, India soon collapsed to 146/5.
Young guns Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif were at the crease. Both batsmen belied their experience and played some outlandish shots to register a 121-run partnership for the 6th wicket. Yuvraj was dismissed for 69 but Kaif remained unbeaten on 87 to take India to victory.
India vs England, ODI, ICC Champions Trophy, Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, 22nd September 2002
Batting first, England scored 269/7 in 50 overs, which was a competitive total in 2002, before the T20 era. Nick Knight and Ian Blackwell both registered fifties, scoring 50 and 82 respectively to propel England to their total. In reply, India made a mockery of the target with the openers Sehwag and Ganguly both scoring centuries putting on 192 for the 1st wicket. India reached the target in just 39.3 overs. It was almost unheard of in those days to chase a target of 270 with more than 10 overs to spare and showed the kind of batting depth that India had in their armory.
India vs England, ODI, World Cup, Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, 27th February 2011
Including the 5th ODI between England and Australia on 24th June 2018, there have been 4013 ODIs played. Just 35 have ended in a tie. India and England played out a classic in 2011.
The hosts scored a humungous 338 all out batting first, thanks to a brilliant 120 from Sachin Tendulkar. India looked firm favorites at that stage but Andrew Strauss scored 158 to keep England in the hunt. England needed 2 runs off the last ball but Graeme Swann could only scramble a single and the match ended in a tie. The total of 338 remains the 3rd highest in all tied matches in the history of ODI cricket.
India vs England, Group match, WT20, Kingsmead, Durban, 19th September 2007
Andrew Flintoff had a go at Yuvraj while he was batting and Yuvraj was fired up when Stuart Broad began to bowl the penultimate over of the innings. Yuvraj struck 6 sixes of Broad’s over to become just the fourth man to hit sixes in an over. Garfield Sobers and Ravi Shastri did it in First Class cricket while Herschelle Gibbs accomplished this feat in the ODI World Cup earlier in the year. This feat overshadowed the result of the match which India won by 18 runs.
India vs England, Group Match, WT20, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, 23rd September 2012
This remains India’s 2nd largest victory by runs in T20Is. India posted 170/4 batting first and then skittled England out for 80 to win by 90 runs. Other than 35 by Craig Kieswetter, extras were the 2nd highest scorer with 12. Only two other England batsmen reached double figures. This was also England’s biggest margin of defeat in T20Is in terms of runs.
India vs England, T20I, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 22nd December 2012
India scored 177/8 off their 20 overs, a competitive total. England made a steady start and needed 51 runs off their last 5 overs. The equation came down to 37 off 3 overs and finally 9 runs off the last over. England needed 3 off the last ball and Eoin Morgan struck Ashok Dinda for a straight six to level the 2-match series at 1-1. There have just been 19 occasions in T20Is where the team chasing has won off the last ball of the 20th over.
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