Yuvraj drives India to win 2nd ODI
Yuvraj Singh plundered England's attack for his second successive century and then took four wickets to lead India to a 54-run victory Monday in the second limited-overs international.
Overcoming serious back pain to play in the match, Yuvraj scored 118 from 122 deliveries to help lift India to 292 for nine in 50 overs despite a top-order slump.
He then claimed 4-28 with his left-arm spin as England was bundled out for 238 in 47 overs, giving India a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.
England's batsmen faltered against part-time spinners Yuvraj and Virender Sehwag (3-28) who made the ball bite off a helpful track.
After shaping as a close contest with the tourists at 183-3 after 37 overs, England's middle-order collapsed to lose four wickets for eight runs.
Yuvraj dismissed four of the five top-order batsmen, removing Andrew Flintoff (43) and skipper Kevin Pietersen (33) in his 10th over that took the fight out of England.
India won the series opener on Friday by 158 runs in Rajkot, its biggest victory by runs against England. In that match, Yuvraj's unbeaten 138 from 78 deliveries spurred India to an imposing 387-5, its highest total on home soil and the best score against England.
Continuing from where he left off in Rajkot, Yuvraj struck two sixes and 15 fours at Indore to post his 10th ODI hundred in 219 matches.
He shared an innings-reviving partnership of 124 runs with Gautam Gambhir (70) to rescue India from a poor start.
Batting first after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss, India's top order was rocked by pace bowler Stuart Broad's three-wicket burst.
Broad (4-55) removed opener Sehwag (1), Suresh Raina (4) and Rohit Sharma (3) in quick succession to reduce the hosts to 29-3 before Yuvraj and opener Gambhir combined.
Broad got an inside edge off Sehwag's bat that rattled his stumps and Raina's innings lasted just nine deliveries before he mistimed an onside shot to Samit Patel at square-leg.
But Yuvraj and Gambhir continued to play their shots freely as India rallied.
Gambhir scored his second consecutive half-century against England, hitting one six and six boundaries in his 76-ball knock before he played a ball from Pietersen onto his stumps.
Dhoni made just 15 before Paul Collingwood (1-43) dislodged his stumps, and then Broad returned for his second spell to have Yuvraj caught behind attempting an ambitious offside shot.
All-rounder Yusuf Pathan lifted the late scoring with an unbeaten 50 from 29 deliveries. He hit four sixes, included two off paceman Stephen Harmison in the final over.
Pathan took 17 from the last four balls he faced to notch his maiden half-century in limited-overs internationals. Pathan ruined Harmison's figures as he ended with 1-50 from his seven overs.
England's innings started on a disastrous note as opener Ian Bell was run out by Raina's throw in the first over.
Prior (38) and Shah (58) then put on 96 runs for the second wicket, but both fell to Yurvaj in quick succession. Yuvraj trapped Shah lbw and then bowled Prior in his next over.
Flintoff and Pietersen kept England in the chase with a brisk 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Flintoff's 35-ball knock contained three sixes, in one over from Harbajan Singh, and four boundaries, while Pietersen hit three boundaries from 49 deliveries. They took 21 runs from one over by off-spinner Harbhajan, who finished with 1-45 from his 10 overs.
Brought back into the attack to contain the free-hitting Flintoff, Yuvraj trapped him lbw on the second ball and then dislodged Pietersen's stumps three balls later to tilt the scales.
Sehwag ran through the lower order as he removed Patel (20), Broad (22) and Harmison (6) to spark Indian celebrations.
The next match is Thursday at Kanpur.