India vs England: Bizarre interruption halts the 2nd ODI

The second India vs England ODI has fared fairly in favor of the hosts so far. The only element playing against India in Cuttack, however, turned out to be the venue itself. The team started off impressively at the Barabati Stadium after Jos Buttler opted to bat first in the match. India saw the return of Virat Kohli to the combination as he recovered from his swollen knee. Kohli's entry meant that the debutant in the last match, Yashasvi Jaiswal, was shown the bench. Another change for the hosts was the inclusion of Varun Chakravarthy, who became the second-oldest player from India to debut in ODIs. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav, who picked a single wicket in the first fixture, made way for Chakravarthy.

If not for some extra runs leaked at the end of the first innings, where Liam Livingstone showed some commendable stroke play, India did a fine job of keeping England's attack restricted. A gritty half-century by Joe Root, combined with the opening fireworks by Ben Duckett and Livingstone's attack at the end, brought the total to 304. Ravindra Jadeja once again emerged as the top performer with the ball in the opening innings, picking three wickets at an economy of 3.50, the lowest among the likes of Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, and Varun Chakravarthy. Then came the turn to bat for the hosts at the Cuttack venue.

Faulty floodlights halt the chase in the second India vs England ODI at Barabati Stadium

Much to the delight of the fans, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma put on a show of his classic, now somewhat forgotten, game of enchanting shot-making. Struggling to score runs for quite some time now, Sharma showed no signs of a struggle this time as he hit consistent boundaries early in the chase. The skipper struck two sixes as he raced off to a good start, with his opening partner, vice-captain Shubman Gill, looking in good touch too. While the English bowlers looked clueless against Rohit's assault, an interruption aided the visitors as the lights at Barabati faltered.

During the seventh over of the game, one of the floodlights at the Barabati Stadium switched off entirely. Reportedly caused by a generator malfunction at the venue, the issue with the lights halted the game for a considerable time. The issue first emerged in the sixth over when the lights started flickering. Once completely off, Rohit Sharma chatted with the umpires. The only solution at that moment was to halt the game as the management rushed to resolve the problem. A grueling wait followed in Cuttack as the fans eagerly waited to see Rohit Sharma continue his fine form.

The game resumed positively, with Rohit Sharma managing to maintain his good touch with the bat. The skipper struck another set of boundaries to reach a half-century in just 30 deliveries. Meanwhile, Gill, who led the chase in the first India vs England ODI, continued in the same vein, hitting a six and nine fours to score another half-century in the series. However, the batter fell to Jamie Overton soon after, bowled out at the score of 60 off 52. Though frustratingly hindered by the lights malfunctioning in Cuttack, India looks poised to seal the series in the second ODI.