India versus England 3rd ODI: India beat England in a thriller to seal the series

 

The Indian Cricket Team defeated England in a high scoring decider played at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Sunday.

England stand-in captain Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to field first. It was an aggressive start by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan looked in sublime touch right from the word go. Dhawan timed the ball brilliantly putting the pressure back on the England bowlers. On the other hand, Rohit also showed his class with lovely strokes. At the end of the first 10 overs, Indian openers raced away to 65.

After the field restrictions, Dhawan continued his aggressive approach and completed his fifty off just 44 balls. The Indian openers played according to the ball of the merit keeping the scoreboard ticking. Adil Rashid provided the much-needed breakthrough for England dismissing Rohit Sharma with a good delivery ending a 103 runs partnership in just 14.4 overs. The Indian Team lost momentum as they lost 3 quick wickets of Dhawan, Kohli, and then KL Rahul. 

Rishabh Pant put the pressure back on the England bowlers with his attacking strokes keeping the momentum in favor of India. Hardik Pandya came to the crease and put Moeen Ali under immense pressure with 3 sixes in an over. Pant kept his composure reaching his fifty off 44 balls. The explosive left-handed Pant along with Pandya looked in great touch hitting boundaries at will to create enough pressure on the England bowlers. A superb low diving catch by Jos Buttler ended the innings for Pant for a superb 78. Pant and Pandya added 99 runs for the 5^th wicket. Hardik Pandya played a gem of an innings reaching his half-century too off 36 balls. Pandya was bowled around the legs by Ben Stokes.

Krunal Pandya struggled against Mark Wood’s pace while Shardul Thakur showed his class by hitting some lovely boundaries and hitting sixes to keep India’s momentum. Thakur and Pandya added 45 runs for the 7^th wicket. Mark Wood bowled with pace getting rid of Krunal Pandya with a lovely catch by Jason Roy and then dismissed Prasidh Krishna in the same over. Topley dismissed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl out India for 329 in 48.2 overs.

Chasing 330 runs to win, it was an aggressive start by Jason Roy hitting 14 runs before being bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a cracker. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got rid of the other opener Jonny Bairstow to put the England team under pressure. Ben Stokes was reprieved twice once dropped by Hardik Pandya and then run out miss by KL Rahul. At the end of the first 10 overs, England made 66 for 2.

After the field restrictions, T Natarajan got rid of Ben Stokes with a full toss to leave England in trouble. Dawid Malan looked in great touch putting pressure back on the Indian bowlers with attacking strokes. Shardul Thakur dismissed England captain Jos Buttler as the umpire gave it not out and the decision was overturned to leave the visitors in big trouble. Liam Livingstone came to the crease putting Indian bowlers under pressure along with Malan. Both looked in complete control hitting boundaries to keep the momentum going. Shardul Thakur provided the breakthrough for India getting rid of Livingstone with a return catch from a full toss. Livingstone and Malan added 60 runs for the 5^th wicket.

Malan completed his fifty off 48 balls and soon was dismissed by Shardul Thakur. Moeen Ali played some attacking strokes putting the pressure back on the Indian bowlers. A superb diving catch by Hardik Pandya ended the innings for Moeen Ali. Sam Curran looked in sublime touch hitting boundaries keeping England’s hopes alive. Hardik Pandya dropped a simple chance at the boundary.

Sam Curran played attacking strokes to put the pressure back on the Indian bowlers along with Adil Rashid to give some hope. A superb one-handed catch by Virat Kohli resulted in Adil Rashid’s wicket. Rashid and Sam Curran added 57 runs for the 8^th wicket.

Curran completed his fifty off 45 balls and kept England in the hunt. The left-handed batsmen did not take singles but hit some lovely boundaries. Hardik Pandya bowled a brilliant 49^th over giving away 4 runs and two dropped catches were also made. With 14 runs required, a superb throw by Hardik Pandya from the boundary resulted in Mark Wood’s run-out. Wood and Curran added 60 runs for the 9^th wicket. T Natarajan bowled a sensational last over giving away just 6 runs to give India a thrilling 7 runs win. Sam Curran almost took England over remaining not out on career-best ODI score of 95.

India 329 in 48.2 overs (Pant 78, Dhawan 67, Pandya 64, Wood 3/34, Ali 2/81) beat England 322 for 9 in 50 overs (Sam Curran 95*, Malan 50, Shardul Thakur 4/67, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/42) by 7 runs.

With this win, India won the ODI series 2-1 and made a whitewash of the series. For his unbeaten 95* off 83 balls, Sam Curran was named the man of the match while Jonny Bairstow was awarded the man of the series.

 

India beat England in a thriller to win the ODI series 2-1