Are England finally improving in ODI cricket?

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, England have now recovered from opening defeats to win consecutive ODI series 2-1 By Mike Peter BBC Sport journalist Published 17 minutes ago What a difference three weeks makes. At the end of June, a dark cloud hung over the England camp, with Test captain Ben Stokes retiring after a 2-1 series defeat by New Zealand. That campaign brought an end to coach Brendon McCullum's time in charge of the red-ball side , and plenty of questions remain about the future of the Test team, but the New Zealander has enjoyed an upturn in fortunes in July, with his limited-overs outfit beating India 4-0 in a T20 series and 2-1 in one-day internationals. Defeating the world number one side in both formats, and overtaking them at the top of the rankings in the 20-over game, is no mean feat and England may feel they are now beginning to show the sort of momentum they last displayed in the build-up to their World Cup victory in 2019. With the next edition of the tournament a little over a year away, BBC Sport takes a look at whether England's 50-over team is finally tracking in the right direction. Have England found their opening duo? To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, All the best shots of Duckett's 141 against India England's only significant change in the India series was a new opening combination of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, and it bore fruit at Lord's. The left-handed duo became England's sixth opening pair since the 2023 World Cup, with Phil Salt, Jamie Smith and Zak Crawley currently out of contention and Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed considerations for the middle order after spells at the top. They had a decent start in the first ODI at Edgbaston, putting on 63, but Duckett was dismissed first ball in the second fixture at Cardiff, with Bethell following shortly afterwards as England found themselves 8-2. In London, however, the pair flogged a tired India attack, taking advantage of benign batting conditions to put on the highest ODI opening stand at Lord's, with Duckett pressing on for his fourth century in the format. Bethell, who has not previously batted higher than four for England in white-ball cricket, started his ODI opening career with innings of 14 and four, but cut a composed figure at the Home of Cricket. He played in a typically positive fashion, striking at 97.85 as he plundered 11 fours and two sixes before falling for 91, just short of a second ODI ton. The 22-year-old's promotion up the order means England can carry an extra bowler, with the hosts fielding three seamers and spinner Adil Rashid alongside all-rounders Sam Curran and Will Jacks in the latter two matches of this series. Root's revival under McCullum Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Only Pakistan's Javed Miandad (nine) and Imam-ul-Haq (seven) have made more consecutive ODI scores of 50 or more than Root If England are to regain the World Cup, having sur