Manchester: Hardik Pandya’s all-around performance and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s (125 not out) maiden ODI century helped India thrash England by five wickets in the deciding ODI to clinch the series 2-1 on Sunday. India won the first ODI by 10 wickets while in the second ODI, England leveled by a 100-run win. Pandya had the best of his career in the first 24 runs, taking four wickets and then hitting a half-century of 71 runs, which included 10 fours.
Pant hit 16 fours and two sixes in 113 balls. In which he also hit five consecutive fours on David Willey in the 42nd over. India chased the target in 42.1 overs after being invited to bat after Pandya’s four wickets and disciplined bowling bowled out England for 259 in 45.5 overs.
However, the Indian team’s top order was shaken by left-arm pacer Reece Topley (3 for 35). But after this, Pandya and Pant, playing the role of troubleshooters, shared a 133-run partnership for the fifth wicket and got the team out of trouble. Pant then shared an unbeaten 56-run stand for the sixth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (07 not out) as India won the series at 261 for five with 47 balls to spare.
Topley took the wickets of captain Rohit Sharma (17), Shikhar Dhawan (01), and Virat Kohli (17) as India lost three wickets for 38 runs. In the very first over, Rohit hit two brilliant fours off Topley in the mid-wicket area and then David Willey in the next over. Tople first sent Dhawan and then Rohit to the pavilion. The team had lost two wickets for 21 runs in five overs.
Kohli, who was in the center of discussion about poor form, had hoped to play a big inning by hitting three fours on Willie but was caught behind the wicket while trying to drive the delivery of Topley. Pant and Suryakumar Yadav (16 runs in 28 balls) played carefully and took the team’s score to 68 runs for three wickets in 15 overs. But Suryakumar, hitting a bouncy ball outside off-stump, gave an easy catch to the wicket-keeper, giving India the fourth blow for 72 runs.
First, Pandya completed the seventh half-century of his career with seven fours in 43 balls. The Indian team had scored 152 runs for four wickets in 30 overs. Then Pant completed his 50 runs in 71 balls with the fifth four. Pant hit the first six of the innings at long-on off Craig Overton off the last ball of the 35th over, after which he had sent the first ball for a boundary. With this, India needed 63 runs in 15 overs to win. Pandya hit two consecutive fours on Brydon Cars in an attempt to end the match early, but his innings ended on the very next ball.
Pandya (55 balls) played a short ball from Cars early and Stokes took a brilliant catch at midwicket to make India’s score 205 for five. Pant took the team to victory with ease and scored a four with a reverse swipe to win in style. Earlier, captain Jos Buttler was the top scorer for England with 60 off 80 balls. But in the first half of the innings, Gujarat all-rounder Pandya dominated with his brilliant bowling and also gave a stern warning to the rival team for the T20 World Cup.
Mohammad Siraj, who was playing in place of injured Jasprit Bumrah, took the wicket of Jonny Bairstow in his third ball of the day’s play, which would have boosted his confidence considerably. The England opener played the ball towards the leg side but the ball touched the bat and went into the hands of Shreyas Iyer standing at mid-off.
Siraj then took the wicket of Joe Root. The England player touched the bat on his outgoing ball and captain Rohit Sharma, standing at second slip, caught it. In this way, two batsmen running in England’s form had returned to the pavilion for zero and the team was in trouble after losing two wickets for 12 runs in the second over. Earlier, Jason Roy (41) had hit three boundaries on Mohammed Shami, out of which a four was hit at mid-off on the very first ball of the match.
Rohit won the toss and elected to field, although the team batting first has won eight of the last nine matches at Old Trafford. Buttler was happy to bat first and Bumrah’s absence was good news for the hosts. But where did he know that even in the absence of Bumrah, one of the best bowlers in the world, the opposition team would take wickets so early in his innings and that too on a batsmen-friendly pitch?
Ben Stokes showed how good this pitch was for batting. Roy and Stokes took the innings forward playing cautiously but Pandya ended it after a 54-run partnership was formed between the two. Pandya, while bowling with a line and length, got Roy caught behind the wicket. In this way, England lost the third wicket for 66 runs.
Pandya kept the pressure from his end and soon he caught the England Test captain off his own ball. He took his second wicket in the maiden over. India was bowling tightly so that England could manage only 16 runs in seven overs after Roy’s dismissal. Siraj came back and hit Butler’s helmet twice in three balls. On both occasions, the physio had to examine the batsman as per the ‘concussion protocol’.
Meanwhile, the England captain Yuzvendra Chahal (3 for 60 runs)Wicket) hit a six at long on while Moeen Ali (34 runs) made a six off Siraj. After this, both of them again hit six sixes in the same sequence. Ravindra Jadeja made Moin his victim. The Indian all-rounder also took a brilliant catch off Liam Livingstone (27 runs) off Pandya while running from the deep square leg as the team lost six wickets for 198 runs. Pandya then made Butler his fourth victim after two balls. Chahal finished England’s innings with the dismissals of David Willey (18 runs), Craig Overton (32 runs), and Reece Topley (nil).
