Star of India's ODI win over England, , eager to continue his run spree, but wants to stay humble
Star of India's ODI win over England, Virat Kohli, eager to continue his run spree, but wants to stay humbleu00a0
World champions India rattled England once again with bat and ball to win the second one-dayer by eight wickets yesterday and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Seamer Vinay Kumar returned with his best international figures of four for 30 as a lacklustre England were shot out for 237 in good batting conditions at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi.
Stellar show: Virat Kohli celebrates his century in the second ODI against
England at the Kotla yesterday. Pic/Imtiyaz KhanVirat Kohli then smashed an unbeaten 112, his seventh one-day century, and Gautam Gambhir made 84 not out as the under-strength hosts surpassed the modest target under lights in the 37th over. Kohli, whose 112 came off just 98 balls, picked up the man of the match award on his home ground.
He said: "I was really keen to perform at home... really happy with the way I batted. The pitch did a bit early, the English bowlers were getting some bounce early on, but it was coming on to the bat beautifully. On this kind of wicket if you play good cricket shots, you can get boundaries.
Hungry for runs
"I'm definitely hungry for more, you never know when you can hit a bad patch. I want to continue my form as much as I can, but stay humble in the process."
Tempers flared in the second session between England's fielders and India's batsmen, forcing the umpires to intervene on at least three occasions.
A series win will help Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men make amends for the disastrous tour of England recently where they were blanked 4-0 in the Test series before losing the one-dayers 3-0.
"I'm glad we're back to our winning ways, it's really good," said Dhoni. "Of course the tour of England was not a good one for us, but the team showed character to bounce back.
"We needed a good start and Vinay and the other bowlers gave us that with regular wickets. Virat batted very well and Gautam played brilliantly.
"This was a good one-day wicket but I would have preferred a bit more turn. I think a turning wicket is a sporting track in India."
Asked if he was looking for a 5-0 sweep, Dhoni said: "For us it's all about winning one game at a time and improving as cricketers, especially with so many youngsters in the side."
Brief scores:
England: 237 in 48.2 overs. (Kevin Pietersen 46, Samit Patel 42; Vinay Kumar 4-30, Umesh Yadav 2-49)
India: 238-2 in 36.4 overs (Virat Kohli 112, Gautam Gambhir 84; Tim Bresnan 2-41)
