India captain Shubman Gill cut a disappointed figure after his side 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 endured a dramatic middle-order collapse to be bowled out for just 233, a total England chased down comfortably thanks to an unbeaten 99 from Joe Root, who finished one run short of a century after Gus Atkinson struck the winning runs. The victory helped England level the three-match series 1-1.Reflecting on India’s batting collapse, Gill admitted 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. We weren’t able to capitalize on the start we got. Hopefully next time we’ll build small partnerships and take it on from there,” Shubman Gill said in post-match.

Gill point out Washington Sundar’s injury

Speaking about Washington Sundar’s injury, Gill admitted it disrupted India’s plans, although he stopped short of blaming it for the defeat.“He’s a key part of our team. I think he got injured while taking that run to mid-off. We had to bowl our main bowlers throughout the innings and change our strategies. It caused a bit of momentum loss, but I don’t think it made a huge 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 get bowled out for 233. Jofra Archer (3/47) and Gus Atkinson (3/50) starred with the ball, while Jasprit Bumrah’s unbeaten 20 helped India cross 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 struck 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 set to be played at Lord’s on July 19.