When England won the toss, they chose to field first. In spite of losing their captain early on, the home team dominated and scored two hundred-run partnerships for the second and third wickets, respectively. In their 50-over quota, India reached 356 thanks to a run of 10s from four middle-order and lower middle-order batsmen.
Even though the tourists got off to a strong start, they dropped their openers to strong beginnings very quickly. After being dismissed for 214 in 34.2 overs, the English team was never able to maintain the necessary run rate. India defeated England by 142 runs, the second-largest margin of victory in ODIs.
Talking Points from 3rd ODI
1. Shubman Gill extends purple patch with glorious ton
Shubman Gill went on to record a spectacular 112-run century, his sixth in the format, perhaps saving the best for last. He hit a strong pace during his innings, which included three sixes and fourteen fours.
2. Adil Rashid remains Virat Kohli’s kryptonite
Adil Rashid dismissed Virat Kohli for the fifth time in ODIs today. The ball that was sent to the wicket was a true ripper. Kohli’s outside edge nibbled behind the English wicketkeeper-batter after a hint of drift and dip was detected.
3. Indian bowlers shine in unison
Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana each took a few wickets in the end. They consistently produced wickets and, for the most part, held the English hitters at bay.
Who Said What?
Winning skipper, Rohit Sharma:
Very very pleasing [with the way the series went]. We knew there will be challenges that we could face. I mean, there is nothing I could have done about that [the ball that got rid of him today]. Credit to the bowler and the bowler is there to get you out and you are there as a batter to challenge that. Just nicked the ball, second ball I was facing and couldn’t have done anything about that. I don’t see there was anything wrong we did this series. Obviously, there are certain things we are looking at [to improve] and I am not going to stand here and explain those.
It is our job as well to keep some consistency within the squad and the communication is clear. Obviously, any champion team wants to get better every game and move forward from there. Very happy with the score [at the break]. There is a bit of freedom in the squad to go out there and play the way you want. The World Cup was a perfect example of that and we want to continue to do that. There will be times it will not fall in place, but that’s okay.
Losing skipper, Jos Buttler:
It went in similar fashion to the whole tour [talking about the batting]. We were outplayed by a fantastic team. Our approach [with the bat] is a right one, just that we haven’t executed well. They put a great score on the board. Shubman played a great innings. We got off to a great start again, but familiar story again for us. Need to find a way to bat longer. We were up against a really good side that keeps challenging.
Player of the Match and Player of the Series, Shubman Gill:
Definitely [asked if this is the best he’s batted in this format]. I was feeling good. I think this was one of the better knocks in ODIs for me. The pitch was a bit tricky at the start, so it’s satisfying. There was a bit for the fast bowlers. It was seaming, so the chat [with Virat] was to rotate strike and not lose wickets in [the] powerplay, build on the momentum and take it from there. [On his approach while batting] You are just reacting to what is coming to you without thinking too much.
India
