3rd ODI: Shardul Picks 4 Wickets as India Win; Clinch Series 2-1
Live updates from the 3rd ODI in Pune between India and England.
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After being bowled out for 329, India’s pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Shardul Thakur all struck telling blows to help the hosts register a narrow 7-run win against England in the 3rd ODI in Pune. The win means, India take the ODI series 2-1.
Bhuvneshwar picked 3 wickets and Thakur then turned the game on it’s head with the wickets of Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan and Adil Rashid.
Sam Curran however kept England in the hunt right till the final over and finished unbeaten on 95.
Bhuvi started things off for India as he castled the dangerous Roy to give India the big breakthrough with the opener out on 14 off 6 deliveries.
England were reduced to 14/1 at the fall of the wicket with Ben Stokes coming out to join Jonny Bairstow but Bhuvneshwar’s onslaught wasn't done, as he trapped the in-form Bairstow out in the third over.
The opener asked for a DRS review but the replays let it stay on the umpire’s call and he had to go back to the dressing room. England 28/2 in 3 overs.
Stokes, the hero of the last win for England, wasn’t able to get going like the 2nd ODI and also was afforded a life when Hardik Pandya dropped a sitter off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Stokes, along with Dawid Malan were steadying the ship before a full-toss from Natarajan was pulled by the all-rounder straight to Shikhar Dhawan at deep square leg.
Once Stokes departed, it was up to Jos Buttler to dig in with Malan, but the England captain could only add 15 to the total and was trapped LBW by Shardul Thakur. The on-field umpire had initially ruled in favour of Buttler but India took the DRS and were successful.
Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan proceeded to build a partnership of sorts but could not kick despite both looking solid. Livingstone caught a full toss from Thakur at the bottom of his bat and the bowler completed a simple caught and bowled to reduce England to 155/5. Livingstone was dismissed for 36.
England were dealt another big blow when Dawid Malan was dismissed for 50 by Thakur, sharply caught at mid-wicket by Rohit Sharma. England with 6 wickets down were staring at defeat.
Moeen Ali was the next to depart for 29 as Hardik took a blinder to give Bhuvneshwar his 3rd wicket of the day.
Adil Rashid and Sam Curran resisted before Rashid was caught sharply by Kohli as Thakur picked his 4th wicket.
However from then on in, Sam Curran took charge and batted brilliantly with Mark Wood, taking most of the strike. England at one stage were in touching distance of the finish line but some good bowling by Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan helped India restrict the visitors to 322/9.
Earlier, asked to bat first, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya rescued the innings for India after a good start, it was the England spinners and Mark Wood at the end, who helped roll over the hosts for 329 in the third ODI in Pune. As many as 7 England bowlers picked wickets.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan put on a century stand before a mini-collapse was engineered by the spinners. However, Pant and Hardik counter-attacked with a 99-run stand before Mark Wood picked three wickets clean up the lower order.
Rohit and Dhawan started off in their merry ways posting their 17th century stand in ODIs which put England under a bit of pressure early on.
Dhawan played the more aggressive role from the start and pulled out some glorious drives through the off-side during his half century, while Rohit at the other end took time to get going. Dhawan smashed 10 fours during his knock of 67.
However, just as Rohit had settled in and was looking set for a big knock, Adil Rashid’s googly went through the gates and knocked him over for 37.
Soon after, Rashid accounted for Dhawan as well, deceiving him with another googly which lobbed up back to him for a simple caught and bowled.
A few deliveries later, Virat Kohli (7) was left bamboozled by Moeen Ali, who spun one sharply and took out the captain’s leg stump.
With Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul coming together for the hosts after the loss of their top order, India’s score read 121/3 in the 18th over.
While Pant was attacking from the onset at his end, Rahul was more than happy to bide his time. However, Rahul then failed to put away a full-toss from Liam Livingstone and Moeen took a sharp diving catch at short fine leg to end the right-hander’s stay in the middle.
The fall of wickets did not slow down Pant or the new man Hardik Pandya as they counter-attacked the England spinners.
Both were severe on the spinners and cleared the fence with great ease, helping India regain the lost momentum.
The duo put on 99 runs, smashing 7 sixes and 9 boundaries in the process before the left-hander was sharply caught by Jos Buttler, giving Sam Curran a wicket.
That brought the Pandya brothers to the middle and soon after Hardik completed his half century as well.
The brothers though could only manage a quick 20-run partnership as Hardik was clean bowled for 64 by Ben Stokes at the end of the 39th over.
While Krunal struggled to find the gaps, Shardul Thakur played a handy 21-ball-30, peppered with 3 sixes and a boundary before being caught behind off the outside edge off Mark Wood.
Krunal was the next to depart as his miscued slog was well caught at point by Jason Roy off Wood, who also knocked over Prasidh Krishna a few deliveries later.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar added 3 and was Reece Topley’s only wicket of the day as India were bowled out for 329.
India have decided to give the left arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav a break and T Natarajan has been brought in. England have brought in fast bowler Mark Wood in place of Tom Curran.
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