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Former England offspinner confirms end to 24-year playing career

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2021Gareth Batty, the former England offspinner, has called time on a playing career spanning 24 years and will take up a position as assistant coach at Surrey.Batty, who will be 44 this month, captained Surrey in T20 cricket over the last two seasons, but confirmed his retirement at the club’s end-of-season awards evening. In two spells at the club, he played 377 matches and took 534 wickets. He finishes as Surrey’s joint-leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket, alongside the also departing Jade Dernbach, with 114.He also spent eight successful seasons at Worcestershire, claiming almost 500 wickets across the formats. It was while at Worcestershire that he first won recognition with England, making his ODI debut on the 2002-03 Ashes tour and playing the first of nine Tests in Dhaka the following winter.Related

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In 2016, at the age of 39, he won a remarkable England recall for the Test tours of Bangladesh and India, playing in Chattogram and Mohali after 11 years out of the side.Batty had already begun coaching on a part-time basis with Surrey, working with the club’s young spinners, Amar Virdi, Dan Moriarty and Will Jacks, and will now move on to the backroom staff, under director of cricket Alec Stewart and head coach Vikram Solanki.”It’s been a privilege to have played the professional game for more than 20 years,” Batty said. “I never took a moment of it for granted and I know how fortunate I am to have represented the teams I have.”I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has been involved in a highly enjoyable career: team-mates, coaches, family, friends and fans. I’m now excited to start a new career at this great club and looking forward to all the challenges and opportunities that will bring.”Having made his first-class debut with Yorkshire in 1997, Batty moved down to Surrey and then on to Worcestershire, before returning to the London club in 2009. He was Surrey’s club captain between 2015 and 2017, during which time they were promoted back to Division One of the Championship, ahead of a successful tilt at the title in 2018.He also oversaw a run of three consecutive Royal London Cup finals – although Surrey were defeated on each occasion at Lord’s – as well as an appearance at Finals Day in last year’s T20 Blast.Back in an England shirt: Batty won a surprise Test recall in 2016•Getty Images

Stewart said: “Batts should look back on his playing career with immense pride. He achieved so much in the game and has always given 100% commitment to every team he has represented. His knowledge and passion for the game is second to none which will be a great asset as he embarks on his coaching career.”He will be missed in the dressing room for everything he has given as a captain and player, but I know that loyal and caring nature will now be transferred across into his coaching. As we congratulate him on all he has achieved as a player, we now look forward to him starting out on his coaching career which I have no doubts he will make a great success of. Cricket is in his blood and we’re very fortunate to have him at Surrey helping to develop and improve our players.”Solanki added: “There are few that have given as much of themselves to both the game and the teams they’ve played for than Gareth. Time and again, whether as player, captain or player/coach, he has put Surrey CCC ahead of himself when the club has needed him most. Fiercely competitive, totally committed and entirely selfless, Gareth epitomises what it is to be a professional sportsman in team environments.”On a personal note I am grateful to have had the privilege to play alongside Gareth and look forward to working with him as a coach. He has a wealth of experience across all aspects of the game that will hugely benefit our squad.”

Rashid Khan takes three wickets in a set as Southern Brave suffer third straight defeat

ECB Media18-Aug-2025An all-action display from Sam Curran and another eye-catching half-century from Jordan Cox eased reigning champions Oval Invincibles to a seven-wicket win over Southern Brave and extended their lead at the top of the table.Set 134 to win, Invincibles lost their openers cheaply, Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye both falling to Craig Overton, but Cox continued his red-hot form with a classy 37-ball 56 and Curran capped a fine all-round performance by making an unbeaten 50 from 32 deliveries.Cox fell to Tymal Mills with 15 still required but captain Sam Billings struck three boundaries to ensure there were no further alarms as the visitors sealed the win with 11 balls to spare, their fourth victory in five.Invincibles overcame Brave in last year’s final and they made an impressive start at Utilita Bowl, Australia left-armer Jason Behrendorff making early inroads when he had both James Vince and Leus du Plooy caught at short third by Tom Curran, who then knocked back Laurie Evans’ off stump to leave the Brave 32 3.Things went from bad to worse for the hosts when Rashid Khan was thrown the ball. Six days ago, the Afghan leggie returned figures of 0 for 59 at Edgbaston but he was irrepressible against Brave, striking three times in his opening set to send Jason Roy, Michael Bracewell and James Coles on their way. Those scalps took Rashid to a competition-high haul of 10 in the Hundred this summer.With the Brave sinking fast at 44 for 6, Hilton Cartwright and Jordan Thompson counterattacked, the latter making a sprightly 13-ball 24 before nicking off to Sam Curran, who then castled Cartwright (42 off 30) with a pinpoint yorker.Curran struck again to dismiss Jofra Archer with a super-slow delivery before Mills was the last man out, run out by the live-wire Curran, to end the Brave innings on 133 from 98 balls, not enough to prevent last year’s runners-up slumping to a third straight defeat.Sam Curran, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “It was a really big win. The way the table is at the moment, we knew it was such a big game, they’re a really good team.”I’m just really enjoying it. It’s a lovely bunch of guys. We’ve been together a while and turning up to work and playing with your mates and having coaches who know you is great.”On sharing a 101-run partnership with Cox, he said: “He’s special, the way he’s playing is incredible. The way he’s striking the ball is so clean and so skilful. Our partnership took the pressure off early. We knew they had some key bowlers and thankfully we saw them off and got the win.”

The pair helped take New Zealand to 166, and UAE fell 32 runs short

Ashish Pant20-Aug-2023 • Updated on 22-Aug-2023New Zealand put up a complete show as they roared back in style following the loss on Saturday, to win the third T20I by 32 runs and seal the three-match series 2-1.The win was set up by fifties from Will Young, playing his first game of the series, and Mark Chapman, who continued from where he left in the second game, as the visitors racked up 166 for 5 in their 20 overs. Junaid Siddique was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts, picking up 3 for 26.

Siddique handed two demerit points

UAE’s Junaid Siddique was handed two demerit points and fined 25% of his match fees for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct twice. The first incident took place in the fifth over of New Zealand’s innings when Siddique moved close to the dismissed batter, Tim Seifert, and shouted aggressively at him. For this, Siddique was handed an official reprimand and one demerit point.

Then, in the 17th over, Siddique showed dissent by using inappropriate language towards the umpire after an appeal was turned down. For this, he was handed one more demerit point and fined 25% of his match fee.

In reply, UAE’s top half was blown away by some restrictive New Zealand bowling. Basil Hameed and Aayan Afzal Khan added 68 off 57 for the sixth wicket, but it came a bit too late for the hosts as they could only muster 134 for 7.

The coin goes Waseem’s way, again

Muhammad Waseem made it three out of three at the toss and stuck to fielding first as he has all series. The UAE bowlers then backed their captain’s decision by restricting New Zealand to 38 in the powerplay while also removing the openers. Tim Seifert got off the mark with a fierce cut while Chad Bowes also got going with a slash through covers. But Bowes’ joy was short-lived with Muhammad Jawadullah sending him back with a skiddy short-of-a-length ball that he could only top-edge to short third where Zahoor completed the catch on the second attempt.Siddique then removed Seifert, who hacked his pull to the right of Hameed at deep backward square leg, the fielder sprinting low to his right and pulling off a screamer. New Zealand were more proactive in the powerplay but were only going at a run rate of just a tick over six.

Young, Chapman sizzle in the middle overs

While the start followed a similar pattern to the previous game, Young and Chapman ensured they dealt with the middle overs differently this time. Young got off the mark with a finely edged four off his second ball before planting Siddique over the long leg fence. Young did slow down a touch when Seifert fell but three successive fours off Hameed got him going again, and he reached his fifty off 40 balls.Young found an ally in Chapman, with the duo adding 84 off just 60 balls for the third wicket to tilt the scales back in New Zealand’s favour. Chapman was circumspect initially but took 17 runs off a Mohammed Faraazuddin over to get into the flow. The surface seemed to be better for shot-making than the first two games and both batters capitalised on it as New Zealand moved from 55 for 2 after nine overs to 132 for 3 after 16. Chapman reached his fifty off 30 balls with five fours and two sixes as New Zealand looked set for a tall total.Kyle Jamieson is congratulated after picking up a wicket•Emirates Cricket Board

Siddique three halts New Zealand’s charge

Siddique came back in style, having been rested from the second T20I, by picking three key wickets to keep his side in the game. He got rid of Seifert in the powerplay and then removed both Young and Chapman in the space of two overs. Young was foxed by a shortish slower ball that he could only spoon to extra cover while Chapman swished one straight to deep backward square leg.Siddique’s spell halted New Zealand’s momentum at the back end. They could only score 24 runs in the last three overs which included a six off the final ball of the innings from Mitchell Santner.

New Zealand keep mistakes to a minimum

After a maiden over by Tim Southee, Ben Lister was carved away for two successive fours by Waseem. But Lister struck back immediately to catch Waseem’s outside edge. Vriitya Aravind scored a couple of cracking boundaries but he was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson as the hosts reached 40 for 2 after the powerplay.While that was still more than what New Zealand managed in theirs, UAE could not capitalise in the middle overs. Aryansh Sharma was stumped off Santner for 16 before Adithya Ashok claimed his maiden international wicket sending back Asif Khan. Two balls later Ansh Tandon committed a near-impossible run and UAE lost 3 for 9 in 11 balls.At 56 for 5 after 10 overs, the asking rate was always going against UAE. Hameed and Aayan did manage to keep UAE ticking along but the big hits never arrived. There were a few boundaries from time to time but New Zealand bowled with discipline. Lister then picked up two wickets in the 19th over to finish with 3 for 35 as New Zealand sealed a comfortable win.

Sean Williams missing through injury with Craig Ervine named as captain

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2023Gary Ballance is set to play Test cricket for the first time since 2017 after being named in Zimbabwe’s squad to face West Indies in next month’s two-match series.Sean Williams will miss the Tests in Bulawayo as he recovers from a fractured finger, with Craig Ervine, playing his first Test in three years, captaining the side in Williams’ absence.Zimbabwe will also be without allrounders Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl due to franchise commitments overseas, while fast bowlers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani are both out injured.There are a host of uncapped players in the 16-man squad, with Tafadzwa Tsiga, Joylord Gumbie, Kudzai Maunze and Tanunurwa Makoni rewarded for their domestic form in the Logan Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Innocent Kaia, Bradley Evans and Tanaka Chivanga, who have all played limited-overs internationals, could be in line for Test debuts. Chamu Chibhabha has been recalled six years after his last Test appearance, while experienced allrounder Donald Tiripano has also been included.Ballance played 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017, scoring four hundreds and averaging 37.45. He returned to Zimbabwe, the country of his birth, after being released by Yorkshire last year and made his ODI debut against Ireland earlier this month.The series, which begins at Queens Sports Club on Saturday, will mark Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket after an 18-month gap.Zimbabwe Test squad to play West Indies: Gary Ballance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (capt), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masakadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Tafadzwa Tsiga

X-rays cleared Warner of a break as Australia were confident enough in his fitness to confirm their XI the day before the match

Andrew McGlashan15-Dec-2021David Warner will play through the pain of a damaged rib in the second Test against England while Jhye Richardson has been confirmed as Josh Hazlewood’s replacement for the day-night encounter.Warner did not field throughout England’s second innings at the Gabba and did not bat during the short chase after sustaining a blow from Ben Stokes on the second day. X-rays cleared him of a break and Australia were confident enough in his fitness to confirm their XI the day before the match.He did not look comfortable during a net session on Tuesday evening and only faced throwdowns instead of the bowlers.Pat Cummins said a painkilling injection into the ribs remained an option for Warner but it was not part of the plan before the match. He also expected Warner to be able to take his place in the slips.”If Davey didn’t feel like he could be as good as normal, he wouldn’t be playing,” Cummins said. “I don’t think he’ll bat any different to how he normally would.David Warner nurses his ribs in the Adelaide Oval nets•AFP/Getty Images

“He batted yesterday with a bit of discomfort [but] knowing Davey he’s not going to miss this one. He’ll be fine when the adrenalin kicks in. It’s not like a broken bone that is going to get worse.”Last season, Warner returned to the side for the final two Tests against India when still significantly hampered by the groin injury he picked up during the one-day series.Richardson, meanwhile, was the expected replacement for Hazlewood who was unavailable due to the side injury he picked up at the Gabba. He made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2019 before suffering a serious shoulder injury that required two operations.”Jhye has been battling his way back since 2019… if we go back to 2019, he played two really good Tests and was on the verge of an Ashes series and a World Cup before his shoulder injury,” Cummins said. “He’s worked incredibly hard, had a great start to this year for WA and we think he’s firing.”He’s really skilled, can swing the ball both ways and can nip the ball. He’s a bit faster than you think – he can be around that 140kph [87mph] mark. In Shield cricket, he’s bowled 20 overs for 20 runs sometimes. Josh is a big void to fill but we are really confident Jhye will step straight in.”

Pakistan allrounder free to play in all formats during first half of next season

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2019Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf will return to Northamptonshire in 2020 after signing a deal for the first half of the season. He will be available to play in all formats ahead of Pakistan’s tour of England later in the summer.Faheem, 25, played for Northants during this year’s Vitality Blast, taking 11 wickets in 11 matches with an economy of 8.11. The club hope he can play a role in their return to Division One of the County Championship next season, with head coach David Ripley describing Faheem as a “genuine threat” on flatter pitches.”He’s a little bit different bowling wise to what we currently have, he’s got a little bit more pace, he’s a swing bowler and he’s got a batting average of 30 [in first-class cricket],” Ripley said. “I think the key element for Faheem is although we signed him for white-ball cricket this year it was pretty clear to see he could bat properly. He’s played Test match cricket for Pakistan so he’s a genuine three-formats cricketer.”Although he missed out on Pakistan’s World Cup squad, Faheem has been a regular in the international set-up over the last couple of years. In all, he has played four Tests, 23 ODIs and 26 T20Is for his country.”The fact he’s got the extra pace is key, we’ve got a very fine group of seam bowlers that got us into Division One and that’s not going to change,” Ripley said. “But when it’s a bit flatter and it’s the last two days of the game and that little bit of nip has gone out of the wicket, someone with a bit of pace and swing and bowling yorkers, then I can see him being a genuine threat when the wickets are flatter.”What the seam bowlers in Pakistan tend to have to do is find a way to get people out when those wickets are very flat and pretty slow. That’s with swing, that’s with yorkers and bouncers, that’s with reverse swing.”

Wickets tumble as hosts reach small target to keep pressure on Surrey at top of Division One

ECB Reporters Network22-Jul-2023Essex 458 for 8 dec (Critchley 117, A Cook 87, Harmer 83*, Arshdeep 3-58) and 30 for 3 beat Kent 207 (Compton 47, S Cook 3-19) and 280 (Finch 114, Evison 58, S Cook 4-46, Harmer 4-72) by seven wicketsEssex made heavy weather of scoring the 30 runs required to beat Kent by seven wickets and secure their fourth successive LV= Insurance County Championship victory. It needed Paul Walter to keep his head when others around him were losing theirs and stroke the winning runs 23 balls into what turned into a more difficult run chase than necessary.Essex attempted to make light work of reaching the target and were halfway there from the first over bowled by Hamid Qadri. But that was the prelude to the drama. Dan Lawrence was first to go when he tried to hit Grant Stewart’s first ball out of the ground but only skied to mid-on.Adam Rossington followed in the next over, lbw attempting to reverse sweep Qadri, and first-innings centurion Matt Critchley departed first ball to a caught-and-bowled by the offspinner, taken running back and over his head at mid-on. That was 23 for 3 in the third over, but Essex managed to get over the line in the next over to take 21 points and keep up the pressure on Championship leaders Surrey.With the threat of rain around later in the day, Essex needed eight overs before breaking the stubborn overnight partnership. But once Qadri departed to a smart catch at short square leg by Simon Harmer the innings collapsed in just six balls.Sam Cook added a second of the morning three balls later when Matt Quinn played on and Joey Evison fell lbw to the first ball of Harmer’s 44th over of the innings. Harmer finished with 4 for 72 to take his season’s tally to 41 wickets and Cook had figures of 4 for 46.

He comes in with an experience of having coached WA and Perth Scorchers to back-to-back Australian domestic trebles

Alex Malcolm03-Aug-2023Adam Voges, who has coached Western Australia and Perth Scorchers to back-to-back Australian domestic trebles across the Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup and BBL, has been appointed to take charge of Australia A against New Zealand A later this month and hopes to use the experience to further build his coaching skills.Australia A will host New Zealand A in two four-day matches and three 50-over matches in Queensland starting later this month, which will run concurrently with Australia’s T20I and ODI tour of South Africa. The A series four-day games will be held at Allan Border Field in Brisbane from August 28-31 and Great Barrier Reef Stadium in Mackay on September 4-7, which will be a day-night fixture with a pink ball. The first 50-over game will also be held in Mackay on September 10 before the second and third games return to Brisbane on September 13 and 15.The squads for the matches are yet to be named but Voges will lead a coaching staff that will include former Australia captain Tim Paine, as well as former Sri Lankan batter Thilan Samaraweera. Former Tasmania allrounder and South Australia assistant coach Luke Butterworth will also work under Voges, as well as Australia women’s bowling coach Scott Prestwidge and Queensland cricket’s coach and talent development specialist Tony Hampson. Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey will also be with the group in Queensland for the series.The appointment of Voges is a departure from the last two Australia A squads that were led in Sri Lanka last year and New Zealand early this year by Australia assistant coach Andre Borovec to maintain some continuity between the Australia set up and the A team.But Cricket Australia’s (CA) head of national development Sonya Thompson had approached WA Cricket’s general manager Kade Harvey about allowing Voges to take charge of the Australia A squad for the series after the WA and Scorchers coach had done what no other Australia domestic coach has achieved in winning the Shield, Marsh Cup and BBL treble twice in back-to-back seasons.Current Australia coach Andrew McDonald is the only one who has led sides to an Australian domestic treble since the BBL’s inception, doing so with Victoria and Melbourne Renegades in 2018-19 before becoming an assistant coach and then head coach with Australia.Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges with the Sheffield Shield•Getty Images

“I see it as an opportunity,” Voges told ESPNcricinfo. “I love my job here in Perth. I’m really grateful for the opportunity I get here [in WA]. I’d love to continue to develop and grow and learn as much as I can as a coach and this opportunity gives me another chance to do that. So that’s probably how I see it.”I’ll enjoy the three-and-a-half weeks that I get with [the Australia A] program and then run or charge full steam into our domestic season. So they’re the priorities at the moment. I’m always looking to just keep learning and growing in the role.”Voges has spoken to McDonald about keeping some continuity between the national team and the A side in terms of the environment and messaging to players, but McDonald has given him the freedom to create the best environment he sees fit for the series.”He’s pretty happy for me to take the lead on that,” Voges said. “Albeit I’m certainly mindful of trying to keep those messages as similar as possible. So that gives us a bit of a guide as to what it can potentially look like, and I’ll probably touch base again between now and then but appreciate he’s been pretty busy over the last couple of months.”Voges is fully aware of the challenges of bringing an A team together at short notice when players are coming and going, while also eyeing personal advancement to the national sides. Despite the challenge being different from taking charge of a year-round state program with a stable group of players, Voges has experienced a lot of chopping and changing within his WA and Scorchers teams over the past two seasons as a number of his players have filtered in and out of national squads during that time.Voges has experience of Australia A programs as a player, combined with his wonderful international career, as well as being part of the 2019 Australia A tour of England as an assistant when he was first finding his feet as a state coach.”Having been part of those setups as a player as well as a staff member, I think that’s the challenge is to try and unite a group in such a small timeframe,” Voges said.”CA are putting a big emphasis on these opportunities and trying to provide them [for the players] so hopefully, understanding the opportunity for what it is and making the three-and-a-half weeks as enjoyable as possible. And if we can do that and play some good cricket along the way then hopefully not only does it kick start those players start of the domestic season, but we enjoy our time as well.”Voges was also excited to reconnect with Paine having spent two years together at CA’s Centre of Excellence as players and appeared in ODI and T20I cricket together, although their Test careers did not overlap.”I have had a fair bit to do with Tim over the journey and I’m really excited for him to start to dip his toe into coaching post-career and looking forward to him being around the group,” he said.”To have a former Australian captain in amongst it and to be able to lean on him and for him to provide that experience to a couple of the younger players I think will be great.”

Shahbaz, Sen called up as replacements; Jadeja’s participation in Test series still unclear

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2022Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja will not be available for the upcoming three-match ODI series in Bangladesh, as he is yet to fully recover from a knee surgery that he underwent in September.Related

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Shahbaz Ahmed, the Bengal allrounder, has been named as Jadeja’s replacement in the ODI squad that begins on December 4 in Mirpur. There’s one other change, with Uttar Pradesh left-arm seamer Yash Dayal ruled out due to a lower back issue. He will be replaced by Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Kuldeep Sen.Both Sen and Shahbaz were supposed to travel to New Zealand for the three-match ODI series beginning in Auckland on Friday. Now, they will miss that series and travel to Bangladesh instead.Shahbaz has been in prolific form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, picking up 11 wickets in six matches at an economy of 4.87 across 51.2 overs. He has also contributed two half-centuries lower down the order with the bat. Sen, meanwhile, is the highest wicket-taker in the competition until the group stages, having picked up 18 wickets in six games, with a best of 5 for 36 against Punjab.Jadeja’s inclusion had been subject to fitness at the time of the squad announcement. If he isn’t ready to line up for the two-Test series that follows, it’s likely Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar could be included in the tour party.Saurabh has been on the fringes of the national team since February last year, following excellent returns since the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy. He was more recently part of the India A squad against New Zealand, where he picked up nine wickets in the series to help the hosts to a 1-0 win. Prior to that, he played a key part in UP’s run to the Ranji Trophy semi-final.In all, across 12 Ranji Trophy games from two completed seasons, Saurabh has an impressive tally of 58 wickets. One of Saurabh’s USPs, according to a member of the outgoing selection committee, is his ability to wheel away tirelessly and bowl long spells.Jadeja, 33, had to leave India’s Asia Cup campaign after the group stages to undergo surgery because of a long-standing knee injury. While India head coach Rahul Dravid initially hoped Jadeja might recover in time to play a part in India’s T20 World Cup campaign, he ultimately missed the entire tournament.It was not the first time Jadeja has been troubled by his right knee, as an injury to the same joint had forced him to miss the ODI leg of India’s tour of the West Indies in July. He has since been undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.Jadeja was eventually named in both the ODI as well as Test squads for the tour of Bangladesh, but will now miss at least the limited-over games, scheduled for December 4, 7 and 10.Updated India squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen

England win with 39 balls to spare, reduce Rahul, Pant knocks to the footnotes

Deivarayan Muthu26-Mar-20212:36

Bell on Stokes-Bairstow stand: ‘Some of the best power-hitting you’ll see’

Despite suffering a collapse of 10 for 116 to bungle a chase of 318 in the first ODI, England captain Eoin Morgan insisted that there was no reason for the world champions to veer away from the turbo-charged approach that has served them well. Three days later, Morgan wasn’t available for the second match – he has been ruled out of the third too with a hand injury – but Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow epitomised that approach to help England mow down a bigger target of 337 with almost 40 balls to spare. Jason Roy also did his thing at the top, as England reduced KL Rahul’s more sedate century in the first half to a footnote.Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya had exploded in the end overs for India, but overall they couldn’t match up to England’s sustained aggression. While India hit 34 boundaries in their entire innings, England ticked past that mark in the 34th over of the chase. By then the asking rate had plummeted to less than five an over. India’s left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya bore the brunt of the Stokes-Bairstow assault, conceding 0 for 156 runs between them in 16 overs.Stokes, Bairstow and Jos Buttler all fell in a space of eight balls, but debutant Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan, who was playing his second ODI, completed England’s drubbing of India to set up a decider on Sunday.It was Roy who made the early running for England, tucking into Prasidh Krishna’s short balls and swatting him for a triptych of pulled fours in the sixth over. Roy followed it with back-to-back fours off Bhuvneshwar Kumar; by the end of the powerplay he claimed 39 of the 59 runs England had scored. He notched up his first half-century of the tour when he hauled a Yadav wrong’un over long-on for six.Bairstow, becalmed in the early exchanges, sailed to his own fifty with a flurry of boundaries. He forged his 13th century partnership with Roy, which is now the most by any English pair. It needed a moment of brilliance from Rohit Sharma in the field to separate the duo. He swooped down to his right from midwicket to capitalise on a mix-up and run Roy out for 55 off 52 balls.Enter Stokes. He was a bit of a non-starter in the first ODI (1 off 11 balls). He had started in skittish fashion in the second, too, padding up to a wrong’un from Yadav, although it wasn’t threatening the stumps. Krunal then drew an outside edge from Stokes, but there wasn’t anyone at slip to snaffle that. All of this was a red herring, with Stokes revving up to smash 84 off a combined 33 balls from Yadav and Krunal, including ten sixes. Only Morgan and stand-in captain Buttler have struck more sixes for England in an ODI innings.After Stokes got to his fifty off 40 balls, he went 6,6,6,1,6,4,2,6,6,2,4, but fell short of a hundred, with Kumar having him caught behind down the leg side. Bairstow, however, had brought up his hundred in the same manner as he had raised his fifty: with a towering six off Yadav.After India were inserted again, Rahul had made a contrasting hundred, collecting 68 of his 108 runs through singles and doubles. He cautiously navigated the spinners and it was only after passing fifty that he hit over the top. Likewise, Virat Kohli accumulated in risk-free fashion after the hosts had dawdled to 41 for the loss of openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma in the powerplay. On Tuesday, India had two fewer runs in that period for the loss of no wickets, but such a cagey start hadn’t hurt them then. It did come back to bite them on Friday despite a 28-ball half-century from Pant and a 16-ball 35 from Hardik.Reece Topley, who was playing only his second ODI since 2016, was particularly impressive with the new ball, often landing it on the seam and gleaning substantial movement and bounce off the pitch. After hitting an awkward in-between length against Dhawan, he pushed one across him from a fuller length to have him nicking off for 4 off 17 balls. Rohit, who had got out chasing what might have been an off-wide wide from Stokes in the first match, tickled a leg-stump half-volley from Sam Curran straight to short fine leg in the second.Moeen Ali, who has had a rough winter, put in a decent shift, returning 0 for 47 in his 10 overs. He gave up only one boundary in his spell, but that was down to a fumble from Stokes at extra-cover. As for Adil Rashid, he cut short Kohli’s innings at 66, besting him for the ninth time in international cricket. Rashid could have got him much earlier – when Kohli was on 35 – had Buttler not closed his gloves too early. The keeper’s error allowed Kohli to add 31 to his tally before the subsequent correction brought Pant to the crease. The left-hander closed out Rashid’s spell with a powerful slog-swept six over midwicket.Pant went on a six-hitting spree, but the lack of urgency from the top four and England’s own six-hitting spree meant it was in vain.