2nd ODI: India beat England by 54 runs

Buoyed by first One-Day International win, India continued its fabulous form in the second ODI as well by leaving England 54 runs short of the victory and leading the series 2-0.

India part-timers had put England in trouble that included Virender Sehwag clinching last three wickets of the day in the form of tailenders Samit Patel(20), Steve Harminson(6) and Stuart Broad (22).

Earlier, Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh added on to the England's woes by removing Paul Collingwood in the 2nd ODI.On the other end, part-time bolwer Yuvraj Singh proved out to be dangerous as he clinched the crucial wickets of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff(43) and Kevin Pietersen(33).

The stylish all-rounder dismissed Owais Shah and Matt Prior in his successive overs.Chasing 293 runs to win, Owais Shah slammed 7th ODI fifty, his maiden against India, before he fell as Yuvraj's first victim.

Yuvi pitched it on the off-stump and Shah was hit on his pads in the line of middle and leg. The Punjab all-rounder tossed one on the off-stump. It turned sharply and took an inside edge of Prior's bat before hitting the stumps. Prior made 38 and added 96 runs with Shah for the second wicket.England lost Ian Bell in the first over as Suresh Raina caught him napping between the wickets.

Bell punched one from Zaheer Khan towards mid-off and ran for a single. Raina quickly collected the ball and dived to aim the stumps at the non-striker's end. Earlier, Yuvraj, the Rajkot demolisher, continued with his sublime form and slammed his consecutive ton of the series to take India's score to 292 runs at the loss of nine wickets against England in Indore.

After the his flamboyant show in Rajkot, Yuvraj was more composed and showed a lot of character as the pitch was not exactly a batting paradise. But his romance with the English attack continued as slammed 10th ODI hundred, his 3rd against the opponents with the help of fifteen 4s and two 6s. In the process, he also completed 1000 ODI runs against England.

Yuvraj joined Gambhir after Rohit Sharma's dismissal when India had just 29 runs on the board. He combined with the opener to steer India out of trouble. The two southpaws added more than 134 runs for the fourth wicket.

Gambhir slammed 13th fifty, his 3rd against England and completed 1000 ODI runs in this calendar year. England skipper Kevin Pietersen struck with his off-spin and broke the partnership between the two as he dismissed Gambhir for 70 runs.After Gambhir, MS Dhoni joined Yuvraj in the middle and added 43 runs for the fifth wicket.

Soon after Yuvi completed his century, Dhoni perished for 15 runs. Paul Collingwood dismissed Dhoni with his off-cutter as the Indian tried to cut that to the third man but the ball came in and knocked off the bails.

Yuvraj soon followed his captain as Stuart Broad got him caught behind. Broad pitched on outside the off-stump and Yuvraj played it with a horizontal bat, only to see the ball kissing his bat before landing in Matt Prior's gloves.

After Yuvraj's dismissal, Yusuf Pathan took it forward. He got his maiden ODI fifty as his birthday gift. Yusuf made a quickfire50 off 29 balls. He hammered Steve Harmison in the 50th over and scored 17 runs off it.

He hit two 4s and four 6s in his innings.Earlier, Broad's early morning spurt left India breathless. Indian skipper Dhoni won the toss but Sehwag failed to capitalize on it and was dismissed in the second over for just 1 run. Broad pitched it on the off stump. The ball didn't bounce as expected and took an inside edge of the bat before crashing into the stumps. In his next over, Broad foxed Raina with an off-cutter. He pitched it on the middle and leg.

Raina (4) chipped it towards the square leg with a closed bat and Samit Patel took it easily. Comeback man Rohit Sharma was his next victim. Broad surprised him with a short delivery. Sharma (3) tried to hook it put the ball took the top edge of his bat and Owais Shah took a simple catch at backward square leg.

Yuvraj shines in India's 158- run win over England

Despite some fighting knocks from skipper Kevin Pietersen and Ravi Bopara, England fell short by 158 runs as India won the first One-Day International of the seven-match series in Rajkot.
After posting a mammoth total of 387 runs with the help Yuvraj Singh's unbeaten 138 runs and Virender Sehwag's flamboyant 85 runs, India bundled England for 229 runs at the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium.

Put in to bat first, Indian batsmen made merry after seeing through the first few overs. England's nemesis Yuvraj toyed with the bowlers to raise ninth ODI hundred, his second against the visitors.

Yuvraj, who was suffering from a back spasm, dealt the bowlers in boundaries, and hit sixteen 4s and six 6s in his 78-ball long outing. Everything that he hit found itself outside the boundaries. He was instrumental in two key partnerships. He added 89 runs with Suresh Raina for the third wicket and 105 runs with skipper MS Dhoni for the fifth wicket. He walked away with the 'Man of the match' award.

Indian openers- Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir - gave a good start to before spinner Samit Patel broke their 127-run partnership. Gambhir came dancing down the track to loft one from Patel. It lacked the distance as he was caught at long-off by Shah for 51 runs.

Sehwag, who bombarded England with boundaries, fell as Patel's second victim. He steered one from Patel but a vigilant Bell at mid-wicket threw himself to his right and took a beauty to see the tormentor back in the hut.

Sehwag made 85 runs in 73 balls with the help of ten 4s and three 6s. Sehwag slammed two consecutive sixes off Paul Collingwood and raised 30th ODI fifty, his third against the tourists. Gambhir, on the other hand, got his eighth half-century in 59 balls with the eight fours. Not that his innings was any less aggressive but it was definitely more subdued as compared to his partner.

Raina missed out on his fifty as Paul Collingwood take a sensational catch off Andrew Flintoff at backward point. Yusuf Pathan, who replaced him in the middle, could not contribute to the scoreboard. He was caught at midwicket by Ian Bell off Steve Harmison for a naught. Harmison later picked Dhoni as his second wicket. He cleaned up his middle stump with a full delivery straight in line for 39 runs.

Backed by a huge score, pacers struck straightaway. Munaf gave the first breakthrough when he dismissed opener Matt Prior for 4 runs. Prior edged one from Munaf and Sehwag took a sharp catch at first slip.

New man Shah was Sehwag's next catch. He edged a fuller delivery from Zaheer and Sehwag dived to his left to take it successfully. Ian Bell was Zaheer's next victim. Zaheer teased him with a short and wide delivery and Bell edged it, only to taken by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni for 25 runs. Few balls later, 'Freddie' Flintoff was caught plumb in front and Zaheer picked his third wicket.

After warming the bench for long, medium-pacer RP Singh struck to remove Paul Collingwood for 19 runs. RP pitched a delivery outside the stump that angled in. Collingwood edged it behind and Dhoni dived to his left to take a low catch. With Collingwood, half the English side was back in hut.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also contributed as he removed Samit Patel (28) with his 'doosra'. The ball pitched outside the off-stump and straightened. Keeper Dhoni made no mistake and stumped Patel for 28 runs.

Kevin Pietersen, who slammed a fifty, was caught short of the crease for 63 runs. A throw from Rohit Sharma was collected by Dhoni and bails were dislodged long before KP could make it. After his dismissal, it was just a matter of time. Though, Ravi Bopara (54*) showed some character down the order and slammed his 3rd ODI fifty, his partners could provide him enough support.

Last two batsmen Steve Harmison and James Anderson fell without any contribution.
India and England play their second ODI at Indore on Monday, i.e. November 17.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Munaf Patel.

England: Kevin Pietersen (Captain), Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Andrew Flintoff, Samit Patel, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison.
Umpires: Russel Tiffin and Suresh Shastri.

Anbu.