Indian captain Shubman Gill cut a disappointed figure after his team squandered a commanding position to suffer a four-wicket defeat against England in the second ODI at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on Thursday, July 16, 2026.After cruising to 180/3, India suffered a dramatic middle-order collapse to be bowled out for just 233, a total England comfortably chased down thanks to an unbeaten 99 from Joe Root, who finished a run short of a century after Gus Atkinson scored the winning runs. The win helped England level the three-match series 1-1.Reflecting on India’s batting collapse, Gill admitted that his side fell well short of the total they had targeted.“Quite disappointing, to be honest with you. We thought 300-310 would be a good total after 25 overs. We were in a good position, but we lost too many wickets in the middle overs. Our tailenders are not the best batsmen, but we expected a bit more from our lower middle order. From there,” Shubman Gill said post-match.
Gill points to Washington Sundar’s injury
Speaking about Washington Sundar’s injury, Gill admitted that it disrupted India’s plans, although he stopped short of blaming it for the defeat.“He is a key part of our team. I think he got hurt while taking that run at mid-off. We had to bowl our main bowlers throughout the innings and change our strategies. It caused a bit of loss of momentum, but I don’t think it made a big difference because the ball was doing enough for the fast bowlers,” he added.
Root chased down the target with ease
India squandered a commanding position after being asked to bat first at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Despite a solid 114-run stand between Virat Kohli (65) and Shreyas Iyer (66) that took the visitors to 180/3, a dramatic middle-order collapse saw them lose their last seven wickets for 53 runs and bowled out for 233. Jofra Archer (3/47) and Jasprit ball 3/50 stars Bumrah’s unbeaten 20 helped India to pass the 230 run mark.England’s chase got off to a disastrous start as Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Ben Duckett with the first ball of the innings before Prasidh Krishna reduced the hosts to 8/2. However, Joe Root anchored the chase with a superb 99 off 133 balls*, receiving valuable support from Will Jacks (30), Sam Curran (26) and *Gus Atkinson (23)**. Atkinson hit the winning boundary to seal a four-wicket victory, leaving Root agonizingly stranded one run short of a century.The result leveled the three-match ODI series 1-1, with the decider to be played at Lord’s on July 19.