Virat Kohli’s India wins a tense battle in the third ODI, defeating England in the decisive series by 7 runs; Sam Curran’s 95-run undefeated hit was for naught, as an energetic bowling performance from India helped the hosts defeat England by seven runs in the third and final ODI here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday morning. night.
With this victory, India has secured the series of three games 2-1. The team led by Virat Kohli has won every series on the England tour of India. India claimed the test series 3-1 and then won the five-game T20I series 3-2.
For India, Thakur pocketed four wickets, while Bhuvneshwar closed three scalps. In the final four overs, England required 41 runs, while the hosts only needed two wickets to win the decider of the series.
Curran racked up 18 runs in the 47th over, needing just 23 runs in the final three overs. In 48, Bhuvneshwar only gave up four runs and almost a wicket from Wood, the decision was overturned by the third referee after England took DRS.
Hardik came in to throw the penultimate over of the game. India missed two straight chances to write off Wood and Curran as Shardul first and then T Natarajan dropped the high sacks.
The visitors needed 14 of the last six balls with Curran on strike. Natarajan launched the final for India. Curran played the yorker down the long run and looking for two runs Wood (14) was left without.
Race Topley joined Curran in the middle and took a single on the first ball. Curran denied runs on the next two balls and it was enough India to claim the match despite Curran breaking the boundary with the fifth ball.
England scored 322/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Curran was undefeated in 95 races, including three sixes and nine fours. Chasing a giant 330 goal, England starters Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow couldn’t get off to a steady start to the side and both first-order hitters were sent back to the pavilion by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first three overs of innings.
Bhuvneshwar seized Roy (14) in the first over while in the third he eliminated Bairstow (1). Two new hitters, Ben Stokes and Dawid Malan, came out in the middle. The duo played cautiously and kept the score moving.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya dropped Stokes in the middle of the fifth inning. Bhuvneshwar was denied his third wicket.
But the association of 40 runs in search of danger for the third wicket was stopped by pacemaker T Natarajan when he fired Stokes (35). After Stokes’ expulsion, England were at 68/3 in 10.3 overs.
Captain Jos Buttler came in at bat at number five. Buttler along with Malan led the side to the total and the duo had a brief 27-run position for the fourth wicket.
This time it was Shardul Thakur who pocketed Buttler (15) at 16 and put pressure on the visitors.
Buttler’s window saw Liam Livingstone arrive in the middle. Malan and Livingstone played attack cricket and began taking over the Indian bowlers. The duo added 60 runs for the fifth wicket association. Malan and Livingstone led the winger to the 150-race mark. In the 24th, Thakur caught swashbuckling batsman Livingstone (36) in his own bowling alley and gave him the much-needed breakthrough to the side.
Moeen Ali came in at bat at number seven. Meanwhile, Malan completed his half century and right after that, Rohit caught him halfway to Thakur. Malan scored fifty of 50 balls, including six fourths. India was in full control of the match after sending the top five English hitters to the cottage with 24 overs.
Malan’s window saw Sum Curran join Ali in the middle. The duo tried to keep the score going with a decent race pace. They added 32 runs on 31 balls before Hardik got hold of Ali (29) in the 30th.
Ali left after scoring 29 runs sprinkled with two sixes and four fours. Adil Rashid and Curran built a 57-run partnership, but could only delay England’s defeat as Thakur outscored the former in 40th, reducing the team to 257/8 in 39.2 overs.
Captain Virat Kohli took a stunner in cover as he dove to his left and dove magnificently to catch the ball. Rashid left after scoring 19 runs.
Wood came to the fold after Rashid’s firing. Wood and Curran kept the fight alive while Curran seemed confident in the middle and completed his half century. Curran played an anchor role and was undefeated with 95 runs, but failed to put his side over the line.
Previously, India’s batting unit showed a shift in focus and this ensured that despite losing ground at regular intervals, the hosts posted a total of 329.
Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan recorded more than fifty points as India set a 330-run goal for the visitors. From the start, all the Indian hitters came out playing aggressively and this saw the hosts scoring runs seven runs ahead for most of the innings.
At bat, starters Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started early and played with more intent, compared to the previous two games. The duo ran 100 runs for the first wicket within 14 overs, but when the partnership began to look sinister, Rohit (37) ended up losing their wicket to Adil Rashid in the 15th of innings. Soon after, Dhawan (67) and Kohli (7) were also sent back to the locker room, reducing the hosts to 121/3 in 18th.
Dhawan was fired by Rashid while Kohli was cleaned up by Moeen Ali. This brought Pant and KL Rahul together in the fold and the duo made 36 runs for the fourth wicket. However, the partnership was interrupted by Liam Livingstone at 25 when he fired Rahul (7), reducing India to 157/4.
Pandya then joined Pant in the middle and both hitters took a special liking to England spinners. The 99-run position for the fifth wicket between the duo saw both batsmen hitting bowlers from England and India looked set for a mammoth total.
However, the visitors got the Pant wicket (78) in 36th. The left-handed hitter tried to move the ball to the side, but ended up gaining an advantage, and Captain Buttler took a one-handed blind. Soon after, Hardik (64) was brought down and India was down to 276/6 at 39th and the heaviest workload depended on his brother Krunal.
In the final overs, Shardul Thakur provided support for Krunal and the duo pushed India’s scoring past the 300-run mark. Shardul was fired after contributing a worthy 30 and the hosts were unable to freely score runs after that, ultimately getting knocked out by 329.
Brief scores: India 329 with everything (Rishabh Pant 78, Shikhar Dhawan 67; Mark Wood 3-34); England 322/9 in 50 overs (Sam Curran 95 *, Dawid Malan 50, Liam Livingstone 36; Shardul Thakur 4-67, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-42).
323/9 (50 ov)
329/10 (48.2 ov)
