MANCHESTER: Rishabh Pant’s maiden ODI ton and Hardik Pandya’s glittering all-round performance steered India to edge the series 2-1 against England after a comprehensive five-wicket victory n the final game, here at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Pant blasted an astounding 125 not out to chase down a 260-run target set by England in the first innings after India elected to field first.
Pandya combined excellently with Pant for the fifth-wicket partnership of 133 runs to take their side out of the crisis after India stumbled on 72/4 in the 17th over.
Pandya smashed a brilliant 71 off 55 balls, laced with ten boundaries after he remained clinical with the bowl and bagged four wickets.
England’s last match hero Reece Topley continued with his blistering form as he ripped through the Indian top-order, knocking down skipper Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli during his first spell and reduced India to 38/3 inside nine overs.
Suryakumar Yadav survived for another seven overs before he fell prey to Craig Overton on 16 runs in the 17th over.
Pandya and Pant then paired together to take the game away from England’s reach and moved the scoreboard at an accelerating pace before Brydon Carse finally removed Pandya after India were comfortable at 205 requiring just 55 runs in 87 balls.
Pant, however, remained in control and reached to his maiden ODI hundred before taking his side home with 47 balls to spare.
England, on the other hand, had a dismal start to their innings as Indian pacer Mohammad Siraj took down Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root on ducks in the second over of the game.
Opener Jason Roy and all-rounder Ben Stokes then braced the innings for while before both fell prey to Pandya on 41 and 27, respectively.
England were marching comfortably towards a mammoth and had already raised 198 in 36 overs with five wickets in hand before Pandya grabbed two back-to-back wickets in the next over.
The all-rounder dismissed Liam Livingstone and skipper Jos Butler on 27 and 60, respectively, to reduce the host to 199/7. The collapse helped India to bowl out England inside 46 overs.
For India, apart from Pandya’s four-wicket-haul, Yuzendra Chahal grabbed three wickets while Siraj made two scalps.
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