A century partnership for the sixth wicket between Kedar Jadhav (90) and Hardik Pandya (56) was not enough to help India chase England’s 321/8 in the third and final match of the One-Day International series, played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. India fell short by five runs in a nail-biting finish, which meant England avoided the ignominy of a 3-0 whitewash in a high-scoring ODI series in which more than 2,000 runs were scored. India won the series 2-1.
India lost their first five wickets for just 173 runs after England posted 321/8. Virat Kohli (55) and Yuvraj Singh (45) shared a 65-run third-wicket stand, but apart from that the Indians were poor on a pitch that had a generous covering of green. The match’s fate seemed sealed at the point, with England set to snatch a consolation win. However, this is when Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya came together and decided to change the course of the match.
The duo put on 104 runs for the sixth wicket to take India within 45 runs of their target with less than five overs remaining, before Pandya was cleaned up by Ben Stokes. Ravindra Jadeja hit a couple of boudaries before holing out to the deep. By then, the equation had reduced to 31 needed off 19, as Ravichandran Ashwin walked out at No. 9. The all-rounder, however, could only sky Stokes in his next over straight down mid-off’s throat. Those two overs bowled by Stokes, the 46th and the 48th, yielded four runs and a wicket each, and would go on to win England the match.
India needed 16 off the last over. Jadhav had the strike and he made it count, clobbering a six and a four off the first two balls. However, Chris Woakes came back superbly, bowling two dot balls, which shifted the pressure back on India. Jadhav went for the big one off the penultimate ball, but could only find Sam Billings in the deep. Bhuvneshwar Kumar needed to hit a six off the last ball for the win, which did not happen.
Jadhav’s 232 runs in the series means that his spot at No. 6 in the Indian line-up is fixed for the Champions Trophy. Pandya at No. 7 also looks like a good fit, with the 23-year-old all-rounder having matured wonderfully in the last year. The form of Kohli, Yuvraj and MS Dhoni in the series means that Nos. 3-7 are sorted for India. What they will, or should, worry about is their opening combination, with neither of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane managing to get any runs under their belt.
Earlier, half-centuries by Jason Roy (65), Eoin Morgan (56) and Ben Stokes (57 not out) took England to 321/8 in 50 overs.
Brief scores:
England 321/8 ( Jason Roy (65), Eoin Morgan (56) and Ben Stokes (57*); Hardik Pandya 3/49) beat India 316/9 (Kedar Jadhav 90, Hardik Pandya 56, Virat Kohli 55; Ben Stokes 3/63) by 5 runs.
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