Root, Duckett's fiery fifties guide England to 304 in second ODI against India

Cuttack (Odisha) [India], February 9 (ANI): Half-centuries from Joe Root and Ben Duckett stormed England to a total of 304 runs in the second ODI of the three-match ODI series against India at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.
The Three Lions skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first. His decision proved to be the right one as the openers Ben Duckett and Philip Salt provided a magnificent start to the visitors at Cuttack. Duckett completed his half-century in 36 balls with the help of nine boundaries.
Both players built an exceptional partnership of 81 runs before Salt was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 26 runs on the bowling of debutant Varun Chakravarthy in the penultimate ball of the 11th over.
The Jos Buttler-led side completed their 100 runs in the 16th over. Duckett was the second one to fall. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja dismissed the southpaw in the same over. The left-hand batter smashed 65 runs off 56 balls which was laced with 10 boundaries.
Following Duckett's wicket, right-hand batter Joe Root took the responsibility of scoring the runs for his national team. Root slammed 69 runs from 72 balls with the help of six fours before going back to the dressing room in the 43rd over on the bowling of Jadeja.
Liam Livingstone (41 runs off 32 balls, 2 fours and 2 sixes), Jos Buttler (34 runs from 35 balls, 2 fours), and Harry Brook (31 runs in 52 balls, 3 fours and a six) also scored some runs for their side.
Right-hand batter Adil Rashid came into bat in the 48th over of the innings. In that over, he slashed three consecutive boundaries on the bowling of right-arm seamer Mohammed Shami. Rashid was sent back after scoring 14 runs in the penultimate (49th) over of the first innings through a run-out.
England were bowled out for 304 runs in 49.5 overs. If India wants to win the three-match ODi series today than they have to chase down a big total of 305 runs in 50 overs.
For Men in Blue, Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers. The 36-year-old player snapped three wickets in his spell of 10 overs where he conceded 35 runs and bowled one maiden over in his spell. Three wickets came through a run-out, out of which two came in the last over of the innings.
One wicket each was bagged by Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Mohammed Shami in their respective spells.
Brief Score: England 304 all out in 49.5 overs (Joe Root 69, Ben Duckett 65, Ravindra Jadweja 3/35) vs India. (ANI)