IND vs ENG | Witnessing England bat in 2nd ODI was akin to watching a computer game, claims Stuart BroadĀ
England pacer Stuart Broad feels that the England batsmen batted in an 'astonishing' manner in the second ODI win over India and it was like watching a computer game. However, he rued the fact that the English bowlers had a disappointing game as they failed to get wickets in the middle-overs.
There was a point in time in the second ODI especially between the 31-35 overs period when England went absolute nuts as they pummeled 87 runs in five overs. Especially when Ben Stokes was batting it was as if every other ball will not only go for a maximum but clear many rows and jolt the morale of the bowlers. Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav were the prime targets as they didn't have any answer to the onslaught. Despite the breakthroughs later, England managed to hammer India with six wickets and 39 balls to spare in the chase of 337 runs to level the series 1-1.Ā
Virat Kohli had termed the hitting by England as one of the best seen in world cricket and England pacer Stuart Broad has also echoed similar sentiments as he termed the English batting 'astonishing' and felt it was like batsmen were having throwdowns for range-hitting practice.Ā
"It was astonishing, wasnāt it? It was great entertainment, brilliant skill, amazing power. I felt like I was watching a computer game, almost replays. I was like whatā¦ another one? Another one? And they werenāt just clearing ropes. The fielders did not stand a chance, did they? They were going 20 rows back. It was like they were having throwdowns and doing that range hitting and practice without a care in the world, doing it in an international game with the series on the line," Broad said on Sky Sports, reported HT.Ā
Broad also felt it was a hard wicket to bowl on and Indian batsmen looked to play aggressive cricket at the back end but admitted it was a disappointing game for the English bowlers.Ā
"It's really hard. Anytime you go for over a hundred, it's a brutal 10 isn't it? But that is how India set up. They do set up to bear an OK run rate in the first 30 overs - just around 4 and a half and then they look to explode with their power hitters at the end.
"Obviously, it was a disappointing match for the English bowlers but it was because we didn't manage to make the breakthroughs consistently through the middle period. I don't think it was massively over par to be honest. It looked like a very good pitch. Had England batted first, they could have gotten a similar score."