India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI: India Win The Series After Surviving From Sam Curran's Late Scare

The hosts India won the three-match ODI series too against the visitors England after winning the thrilling series decider last game of the series by 7 runs. With this victory, the hosts won the series by a 2-1 margin.

After England captain Jos Buttler won the toss, he sent the hosts to bat first again. While India scored 329 runs before getting all out in 48.2 overs, England were restricted to 322/9 (50 overs).

India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI

2nd innings (England): Sam Curran almost stunned after Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s strong bowling performances

Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided a strong start for India by dismissing both the in-form England openers very early as Jonny Bairstow scored just one run while Jason Roy was dismissed for 14 runs.

Last match hero, Ben Stokes scored 35 runs before T Natarajan got his wicket. Captain Jos Buttler once again failed to score good runs in this ODI series as he was dismissed by Shardul Thakur for 15 runs. After losing those wickets in the crucial moments, Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone put the 60 runs partnership for the fifth wicket. While Livingstone scored 35 runs, Malan scored run-a-ball 50 runs as Thakur got both those wickets.

Moeen Ali also lost his wicket for 29 runs as England were struggling on 200/7 as India were dreaming for an easy victory. However, Sam Curran became the strong warrior for England in the late moment as his batting kept alive the visitors’ dream till the last over. While Sam batted strongly, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood provided some crucial support from the other end as Sam and Rashid had the 57 runs partnership for the eighth wicket and Sam and Wood had the 60 runs partnership for the ninth wicket.

While Rashid scored 19 runs and Wood scored 14 runs, brilliant Sam Curran completed his fifty in 45 balls and scored 95 not out off 83 balls (9 fours and 3 sixes) before their heartbreaking defeat in the game. In the last over, England needed 14 runs to win and Natarajan ultimately kept his cool till the end.

Shardul Thakur once again brought crucial breakthroughs as he had bowling figures of 10-0-67-4. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had bowling figures of 10-0-42-3. T Natarajan was the only other bowler to pick up a wicket in that innings as he had bowling figures of 10-0-73-1.

1st innings (India): Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya scored the 50s

Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan provided a strong start with the 103 runs partnership for the first wicket in 14.4 overs. During that partnership, Dhawan completed his fifty in 44 balls. But then India lost three quick wickets inside the next 18 balls. While Adil Rashid dismissed both the openers as Rohit Sharma was bowled after scoring run-a-ball 37 runs while Dhawan was caught & bowled for 67 runs off 56 balls (10 fours).

Moeen Ali bowled Indian captain Virat Kohli for just 7 runs. Also, Liam Livingstone got his first international wicket after dismissing KL Rahul for 7 runs.

But then Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya handled the situation really well and set up the 99 runs partnership inside the less than next 12 overs. Pant also scored fifty in 44 balls as he scored 78 off 62 balls with the help of 5 fours and 4 sixes before Sam Curran picked up his wicket.

Soon after that wicket, Hardik reached his fifty in 36 balls and before Ben Stokes bowled him, the all-rounder scored 64 off 44 balls (5 fours and 4 sixes). India lost their first six wickets in 39 overs, so, Krunal Pandya decided to hold the innings while Shardul Thakur played his familiar role with the bat.

Krunal and Shardul had another important 45 runs partnership for the seventh wicket. But once that partnership was broken, India added eight more runs before losing up all wickets. While Shardul scored 30 off 21 balls (only four and 3 sixes), Krunal scored 25 off 34 balls.

Among the England bowlers, Mark Wood (3/34) got three wickets and Adil Rashid (2/81) bagged two wickets while all five other bowlers managed to pick up one wicket each.

Brief Scores: India – 329 in 50 overs (Rishabh Pant 78, Shikhar Dhawan 67; Mark Wood 3/34)

England  – 322/9 in 50 overs (Sam Curran 95*, Dawid Malan 50; Shardul Thakur 4/67)

Result – India won by 7 runs