England batters must take charge of ODI decider with Kohli due a big score

Their summer may be yet to catch fire like their resurgent Test equivalents but after Reece Topley sliced through India at Lord’s during the week, England’s white-ball men head into an enticing one-day international decider.

Old Trafford plays host on Sunday, with the ground sold out, the mercury set to top 30C and Jos Buttler (possibly unrecognisable to Lancashire supporters these days) looking for his first series win as England’s white-ball captain. If he manages it against a team with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami on form any early concerns about life after Eoin Morgan should evaporate quicker than Nadhim Zahawi’s support for Boris Johnson.

It may require England’s thunderbats to reassert themselves a little, however. The World Cup-winning top five have not fired during the first two ODIs and it was the support cast who made it 1-1. Moeen Ali’s 47 was as vital as it was ice-cool, so too David Willey’s 41. With Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes all long-term injury absentees, and Adil Rashid having taken time out to undertake the hajj pilgrimage, Willey and Topley then stepped up with the ball impressively.

Topley’s figures of six for 24 from 9.5 overs were not simply the best for England in men’s ODIs but a heartening story to go with it. The left-armer’s attributes are alluring, be it the ability to swing the ball, the angle or the bounce from his 6ft 7in frame (something that may suit Old Trafford). But his body – chiefly his back and the blight of stress fractures – has been horribly rebellious over the years.

So much so that in 2018, ground down by the repeat injections required to simply get on the park, he felt he was “rotting away” and told Hampshire, then his county, he was done.

“These are the