India have outclassed England in all the formats during their tour of India in 2021 . After Winning the Tests 3-1, T20 3-2, India won the three match ODI series in Pune 2-1. The last match though was a high scoring affair with India holding the never to win by 7 runs.
After India skipper Virat Kohli failed to win the toss yet again, England stand-in skipper Jos Buttler asked India to bat first. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan put on 103 for the first wicket before Rohit Fell for ( 37), Dhawan scored ( 67) . Skipper Virat Kohli and K L Rahul Failed cheaply for 7 each . But the innings got the momentum thanks to a superb 99 run partnership off 70 balls between Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya . Pant ever improving with his batting blasted yet another aggressive 78 off 62 balls with five fours and four sixes. Hardik played a cameo 44 ball 64 with five fours and four sixes. The duo put India back into the match . Krunal Pandya ( 25 ) and Shardul Thakur ( 30) played important cameos towards the end as India were bowled out for a competitive 329 in 48.2 overs .
English bowlers struggled hard . Sam Curran 1/43 (5 overs), Reece Topley 1/66 (9.2 overs), Mark Wood 3/34 ( 7 overs), Ben Stokes 1/45 (7 overs), Adil Rashid 2/81 ( 10 overs), Moeen Ali 1/39 ( 7 overs), Liam Livingstone 1/20 ( 3 overs)
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In reply England needed a good start. But unlike the previous encounter this time they were not lucky and lost wickets at regular intervals and this marred their chase in this match. Jason Roy ( 14) , Last match centurion Jonny Bairstow ( 1) , Ben Stokes ( 35) , Skipper Jos Buttler ( 15) fell early to put pressure on the line- up. David Malan ( 50) put an effort. Liam Livingstone ( 36), Moeen Ali ( 29). England looked out of the match but Sam Curran gave England hope with a brilliant unbeaten 95 off 83 balls with 9 fours and three sixes. he took the game to the last over and unfortunately did not have a batsman alonside him . Bowlers Wood ( 14) and Rashid (19)were not good enough. A stokes or Buttler would have changed the game perhaps the match. But there is no room for ifs in cricket. India held their nerve as England could manage 322 / 9 in their 50 overs. India won by 7 runs.
Indian bowlers learnt from their previous hammering and just about managed to hang on to win. Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/42 ( 10 overs), T Natarajan 1/73 ( 10 overs) , Prasidh Krishna 0/62 ( 7 overs) , Shardul Thakur 4/67 ( 10 overs), Hardik Pandya 0/48 ( 9 overs), Krunal Pandya 0/29 ( 4 overs)
There was consolation for England though with Sam Curran was named Man Of The Match while Jonny Bairstow was named Man of The Series.
Now all players will be back on the ground in the IPL beginning April 9.
India’s next International engagement is the big one – The World test Championship final against New Zealand . It will be held in a bio-secure bubble at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton from June 18 to 22.
