Cricket: Captain Cook demands supply of hundreds

ENGLAND captain Alistair Cook challenged his players to turn their starts into hundreds after his side lost their second one-day international against India by eight wickets.

Batting first on a good track in Delhi, the tourists were nought for two after Cook and Craig Kieswetter went early, while Kevin Pietersen’s 46 was England’s highest score.

Jonathan Trott (34), Ravi Bopara (36), Jonny Bairstow (35) and Samit Patel (42) all got starts, but none were able to cash in. “We were none for two and quite a long way back,” Cook said. “There were a lot of 30s and 40s and we know that doesn’t win the game. Virat and Gambhir showed us what a partnership can do. It was a very good wicket and we got 30, 40, 50 runs too few, but credit to the way India played. They didn’t give us anything.

“We’ve prepared well for games but haven’t translated it into performances. We need to score more runs and our fielding wasn’t at the standard we set.”