England vs India 2nd ODI: Joe Root Falls One Short of Ton as England Seal 4-Wicket Win

England vs India: The hosts won the 2nd One-Day International of the India tour of England 2026 and levelled the three-match ODI series at 1-1. Joe Root’s powerful knock of 99 not out led England to a 4-wicket win at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

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After Harry Brook won the toss, he was pretty much confident about bowling first, and the hosts were successful in restricting India to a score of 233, as Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson took 3 wickets each and sent more than half of the team to the pavilion.

Playing XIs

India’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (C), Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna

England’s Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood

England vs India 2nd ODI: First Innings, Rohit-Kohli Back Together

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill provided India with a brisk start, playing in a singles-and-doubles style before Gill departed for 31 (30). Virat Kohli joined Rohit, and the duo added another milestone by completing 8,008 partnership runs across all formats for India before Rohit was dismissed for 26 (47).

Ishan Kishan managed just 1 (8), while Kohli and Shreyas Iyer steadied the innings. Kohli reached his 79th ODI fifty and 14th fifty against England before playing an amazing knock of 66 (66).

Washington Sundar and Axar Patel failed to make significant contributions, but Shreyas Iyer kept fighting and brought up his 25th ODI fifty. Regular wickets from Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood, and Will Jacks restricted India, while Jasprit Bumrah’s 20-run late blitz helped India post a fighting total of 233.

**England vs India 2nd ODI: Second Innings, Joe Root’s 99* and Gus Atkinson’s Anchoring Role Helped Hosts to 4-Wicket Win**

England needed 234 runs from 50 overs. The opening pair for England, Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, were on the crease, and Jasprit Bumrah started with the new ball. On the very first ball, Jasprit Bumrah trapped Ben Duckett with an outside edge, and Ishan Kishan took an easy catch. A blistering start for India.

Then, in the 4th over, Prasidh Krishna dismissed Jacob Bethell as he edged the ball again, and Jacob Bethell had to walk towards the pavilion. Both the openers were out on a score of 8, and Joe Root and captain Harry Brook were on the crease. Both took an unhurried way of scoring runs, as the score stood at 51/2 after 10 overs.

Gurnoor Brar struck the wicket of Harry Brook, and after scoring 16(16), the captain was dismissed. The pair of Sam Curran and Joe Root took the innings further, as Sam Curran was attacking the loose deliveries, whereas Joe Root was taking singles and doubles and creating pressure on the visitors’ bowling attack.

In the 20th over, Sam Curran, after scoring a valuable 26(31), got out on Shivam Dube’s delivery. Jos Buttler joined Joe Root, and Jos took an approach of scoring runs fast. Fifty came up for Joe Root in 23.6 overs, and this was a consistent fifth 50+ score for Joe Root. In 25 overs, England finished at 125/4.

The second half of the innings started with Jos Buttler’s wicket, taken by Axar Patel, and brought the fifth breakthrough for the team. Will Jacks and Joe Root continued the innings, and Will Jacks took an anchoring role, while Joe Root kept on running the scoreboard with singles and doubles.

But on the last ball of the 40th over, Gurnoor Brar dismissed Will Jacks. He played a crucial innings of 30(44). Later, Joe Root with Gus Atkinson took the responsibility of scoring runs, and in 44.1 overs, the hosts managed to score 234 runs. Let’s take a look at Joe Root’s last 5 ODI match scores: