Cuttack, Feb. 9 -- Half-centuries from Joe Root and Ben Duckett stormed England to a total of 304 runs in the second ODI of the three-match ODI series against India at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.

The Three Lions skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first. His decision proved to be the right one as the openers Ben Duckett and Philip Salt provided a magnificent start to the visitors at Cuttack. Duckett completed his half-century in 36 balls with the help of nine boundaries.

Both players built an exceptional partnership of 81 runs before Salt was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 26 runs on the bowling of debutant Varun Chakravarthy in the penultimate ball of the 11th over.

The Jos Buttler-led side comp...