It was a riveting end to this ODI series and overall England’s tour of India. India racked up 329 after being put into bat, and England looked down and out at one point. But Sam Curran’s stunning 95 almost took England over the line but eventually, India held their nerve to return with a 2-1 series win.
It was yet another high-scoring game, and once again, both teams scored well over 300. The game ebbed and flowed and swung from one way to the other throughout the 100 overs. But India held their nerve to clinch a cliff-hanger and take the series 2-1.
Virat Kohli lost the toss yet again, and for the third successive time in this ODI series, India were sent into bat first. Both teams had one change each. The hosts replaced Kuldeep Yadav with T Natarajan while England brought in Mark Wood in place of Tom Curran.
In the first two ODIs, India’s start was slow, and they gradually moved through the gears as the innings progressed before exploding at the end. However, things changed in this final ODI. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma helped India get off to a solid and fast start. The duo put on 103 in just 14.4 overs for the opening wicket.
Both Dhawan and Rohit got off to good starts and were looking in excellent touch before introducing spin shifted the momentum. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali combined to knock over the famed Indian top three in the space of three overs and 18 runs. India went from 103/0 to 121/3 which turned into 157/4 with the wicket of KL Rahul in the 25th over.
Hardik Pandya joined Rishabh Pant, who had already gotten off to a brisk start by then, and the duo counter-attacked beautifully. Normally, when India have been under pressure, they have tended to cut out the risk and the big shots and put their head down in search of rebuilding the innings. The Pant-Pandya duo had other ideas as both of them went out all guns blazing, smashing the spinners out of the attack and countering the fast bowlers with ease as well.
Pant and Pandya shared a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket, and it came in just 70 balls. Pant was dismissed by Sam Curran in the 36th over for 78 off 62 balls (five fours and four sixes), while Pandya, who scored 64 off 44 balls, followed him a couple of overs later as Ben Stokes had the latter bowled round his legs.
India were 276/6 at that stage, and a cameo from Shardul Thakur (30 from 21 balls) helped the hosts go past the 300-run mark. Krunal Pandya struggled during his 34-ball stay at the crease, and the last four Indian wickets fell for a mere eight runs. India folded up for 329 and didn’t even bat out the 50 overs (10 balls were remaining).
Jason Roy got off to a blistering start as he struck three boundaries in the first over off Bhuvneshwar Kumar before the Meerut fast bowler had the last laugh and knocked over the England opener on the last ball of the first over. The ace Indian pacer then had Jonny Bairstow LBW to give India a superb start and ended India’s barren run in the powerplay with the ball.
Stokes was dropped in the fifth over by Hardik Pandya, but it didn’t cost much as the premier England all-rounder holed out in the 11th over. Shardul Thakur once again proved his worth in the middle-overs as he picked up four wickets.
The Mumbai cricketer pinned Jos Buttler LBW for 15 just when the stand-in skipper was getting set. After Buttler was dismissed in the 16th over, Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan stitched a good partnership, adding 60 runs for the fifth wicket. But Thakur came back to dismiss both the set batsmen in successive overs to tilt the game in India’s favour.
At 168/6, England seemed dead and buried. However, Sam Curran had other ideas. He smashed a stunning 95 to take England agonizingly close to India’s total of 329. He supported Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood, who chipped in with vital runs. Curran’s big-hitting brought down the equation to just 23 off the last three overs, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and T Natarajan held their nerve and executed their plans to help India close out the game. The absence of proper partners at the other end hampered Curran as well.
Eventually, India won the game by seven runs, and England returned home empty-handed as they every series (across formats) on this tour.
Brief Scores: India 329 (Pant 78, Dhawan 67, Hardik 64, Wood 3/34) beat England 322 for 9 (Curran 95*, Malan 50, Thakur 4/67, Kumar 3/42) by seven runs
