An innings of rare brilliance even for Virat Kohli coupled with a belligerent hundred from Kedar Jadhav ensured that England’s highest-ever total against India was still not enough to take an early lead in the three-match series. Even by modern standards, this was quite a chase by the home side, who won with 11 balls to spare. The last two scoring shots were sixes.
Not a score of 350 for seven or the loss of four wickets in the first 12 overs proved too stout a barrier for India’s chase. Power and guile, leg side and off, aerial and ground: Kohli’s retort to the England effort was as near complete a white-ball innings as they come. Only near complete, because he succumbed to a rare false shot to leave India still 88 runs short with 82 balls remaining.
India captain lights up stadium
Kohli’s average in ODIs since the start of 2016
His strike-rate in the same period
Centuries in run chases, already as many as Sachin Tendulkar
But Jadhav, in his home city and watched by his family, guaranteed himself a place in the folklore of Pune by refusing to allow the innings to stagnate. Then, his colleagues below carried on running and hitting with another relatively inexperienced figure in Hardik Pandya accepting responsibility from Jadhav. Fielders could only hang their heads in disbelief at the end of an astonishing day.
The stand of 200 between Kohli and Jadhav was the fifth highest in one-day cricket. Spinners were alternately milked into gaps or thrashed on a surface that began nicely for batsmen and only improved. After making early inroads, the seamers found little traction with slower balls later on. Eoin Morgan could merely count fielders to confirm that he was never one light.
And yet India had begun their reply in such a kamikaze fashion that the pertinent statistics appeared to be their heaviest losses rather than greatest chases. David Willey generated swing and tempted Shikhar Dhawan to slice to third man before going round the wicket to uproot KL Rahul’s middle stump. Yuvraj Singh flattered only briefly.
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Having resigned the one-day captaincy this month, Mahendra Singh Dhoni abdicated responsibility in a different way with the most condescending and ugly swish against Jake Ball that gifted a catch to mid-wicket. Had an England batsman played that shot in the circumstances — 63 for three in the 12th over — the criticism would have deafened.
Judging by the number of blue shirts in the stands bearing his name and No 18, Kohli has usurped his predecessor in the public affection. The crowd of about 50,000 blew their horns when his second scoring shot soared over the ropes, again when a slash went inches over third man. Chris Woakes was the victim of the most jaw-dropping shot, a short-arm jab that sent the ball a seemingly impossible distance.
Adil Rashid was able to join the attack with inroads made already, but he was given no opportunity to relax as the batsmen sought to play on his confidence. Kohli was happy to let Jadhav play the big shots and the local boy enjoyed every opportunity to swing his arms and find the short boundaries. Moeen Ali and Joe Root came as easily on to the bat as Rashid.
Jadhav has been a slower burner. He made his international debut in 2014 at the age of 29 and has been identified now as a player for the Suresh Raina role, a batsman who can offer a few overs of spin as when required. He showed a strong preference for the leg side, but the method was productive in what was easily the highlight of his career so far.
Kohli reached his 27th ODI hundred from 93 balls. Disabusing suggestions of nerves in the nineties, he reached it with a six. Jadhav finished with 120 from 76 balls. Even after treatment when he fell attempting to force Ball, he recovered sufficiently to force the next ball for six. He fed off Kohli’s self-assurance and guiding words in the early stages. Against the bowlers he just helped himself.
Pain in Pune
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England had enjoyed much the better start. Jason Roy dominated the early scoring, hitting ten of the 11 powerplay fours. He was happy to force through the off side despite early seam and when bowlers sought a straighter line he worked to leg for equal reward. Dropped on 66 he fell seven runs later when Ravindra Jadeja pushed one through to set up a stumping.
Morgan played himself in only to feather behind trying to steer to third man, but Root had shaken off any cobwebs by this stage in his first innings since arriving after the birth of his son, Alfred, back home. Ravichandran Ashwin proved ineffective and, despite his wicket, Jadeja also offered far less threat than he had in the Tests before Christmas.
Instead of spin, Kohli needed the skiddy medium pace of Pandya and variety of Jasprit Bumrah to peg back England as the innings entered its final third. Bumrah was fortunate to be allowed to continue bowling after a series of beamers, the umpires deciding that they were not dangerous despite Ben Stokes suggesting that they were.
Stokes is not a man to exude fear and the misdirected attempts at yorkers on top of the need for acceleration roused him to start swinging his lumberjack’s arms. He forced sixes in four overs in a row, showing no sign of being deceived by Bumrah’s changes of pace. England knew they needed the runs. They cannot have imagined they needed even more.