Bairstow, Stokes blast England to series-levelling win

The explosive 175-run stand between Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes helped England to chase down a mammoth 337-run target with ease for a series-leveling six-wicket victory in the second one-day international on Friday.

Opening batsman Bairstow smashed seven sixes and 11 fours in his knock of 124 while Stokes hit 10 sixes and four fours before falling one short of a deserved century as the touring side reached their target with 39 balls to spare.

India batsman KL Rahul earlier continued to make the most of his return to form with a century, anchoring the innings with a classy 108 to help the hosts reach 336-6 after England’s stand-in captain Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to field.

England made three changes to the side that lost the opening ODI by 66 runs, drafting in Dawid Malan, debutant Liam Livingstone and fast bowler Reece Topley.

India’s total never looked out of reach for England’s batting line-up after Bairstow and Jason Roy set the tone for the chase with an opening stand of 110.

The pair looked unstoppable and were only separated when Roy was run out for 55 following a sharp piece of fielding from Rohit Sharma.

That brought Bairstow, who hit his 11th hundred, and Stokes together and the duo went on a boundary-hitting spree, leaving the Indian bowlers looking shell-shocked on the field.

Stokes’ 52-ball knock ended when he was caught behind while attempting a pull shot off seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

ARR