India vs England – 2nd One-Day International Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is India vs England taking place? Friday, March 26th, 2021 – 08:00 (UK)
Where is India vs England taking place? Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
What is the expected weather for India vs England? 37c with sunshine forecast
What channel is India vs England on? The match will be televised live on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404)
Where can I stream India vs England? The match can be streamed live the SkyGo app
LAST MEETING
India beat England by 66 runs
THE TEAM NEWS
INDIA
- India picked up an important opening win as they were able to post a competitive 317/5 and then defend despite looking up against it for a long spell of England’s run chase when Roy and Bairstow were smashing them to all parts.
- The one real negative from that game was the dislocated shoulder sustained by the in-form Shreyas Iyer who will now miss the remainder of the series and part of the IPL so that will hand an opening to Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant for this match.
- There is likely to be an opening for one of them due to an injury to Rohit Sharma who is likely to miss out too so that could lead to two changes to the batting order along with any potential rotations to the bowling unit.
ENGLAND
- England were frustrated to lose the first match of this three-game series as after racing to 135/0 from just 14 overs, they regularly dropped wickets and were unable to see the game through after the outstanding start by Bairstow and Roy.
- They are already without Jofra Archer, Joe Root and Chris Woakes for this series but they have major injury concerns over Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings for this game after the duo sustained injuries in the first match.
- Both are expected to be fit although Liam Livingstone is one option that could come in if either player is held out while it would be no surprise if Reece Topley was given a chance in the bowling attack if they do switch things around.
UPDATE: England captain Eoin Morgan has since been ruled out of this match and the remainder of the series due to injury. Jos Buttler will captain the side in his place.
THE PREDICTION
After breaking the trend of teams batting second winning in the fourth T20, India have since gone on to win the last three games when batting first including the first ODI on Tuesday. They produced another excellent total which put the scoreboard pressure on England and while the openers got off to a sensational start, India clawed it back and defended it comfortably in the end. This will be another intriguing battle between the two teams and it is India who look to be in control of things right now. Their batsmen are in exceptional form and are improving by the game while their bowlers just have the edge over their English counterparts. Unless the English batsmen can produce some fireworks which is always possible with Roy and Bairstow playing so well, the hosts have to be favoured to get the win and seal the series.
