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Despite half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli, a stellar performance from England's bowlers restricted India to just 233 runs in the second ODI at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday. It was not a very convincing batting performance from the 'Men in Blue', who seemed to struggle to build momentum. England will now have to score 234 runs to level the series and face the decider in the third and final ODI.

India scored 233 runs in 44 overs after England decided to bowl first. The visiting team recovered from the middle order faltering on the basis of Shreyas Iyer's solid half-century, but England's fast attack prevented India from scoring big.

India's bad start

India started cautiously on a pitch that favored the fast bowlers. Rohit Sharma was out after scoring 26 runs, while captain Shubman Gill contributed 31 runs, after which England made a comeback. Ishan Kishan, who joined the playing eleven in place of ill KL Rahul, also could not do anything special and was out after scoring only one run.

Kohli and Iyer took over the innings

After this Kohli and Iyer took over the innings with an important partnership. Kohli played a brilliant inning of 65 runs, but his dismissal increased the pressure on India. Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar struggled to find rhythm, and all three failed to cross double figures as England's bowlers kept the pressure on India.

Strong performance by England bowlers

Iyer handled the innings by playing a struggling inning of 66 runs in 71 balls. He also got support from the lower order, with Jasprit Bumrah playing a valuable unbeaten inning of 20 runs in the end. England's bowling attack responded strongly, and their fast bowlers took wickets at regular intervals. Joffra Archer performed brilliantly, taking 3 wickets in his 10 over spell and also took the important wicket of Kohli. Saqib Mahmood returned to the team and impressed with 2 wickets, while Gus Atkinson also took 3 wickets. (ANI)