ENG vs IND, 2018: Twitter Reacts as England Steamrolls India to Clinch ODI Series 2-1

Joe Root and Eoin Morgan continued their red-hot form with the bat as they helped England to thrash India by eight wickets in the third and final One-day International – to seal the series 2-1.

Root scored his second consecutive ton while Morgan scored his second fifty in as many games to take the hosts home comfortably at Headingley on Tuesday (July 17) night.

Chasing a modest 257 target to win the series, England made a blazing start. Jonny Bairstow hit a flurry of boundaries, racing away to 30 off just 12 before Shardul Thakur cut short his innings.

Jason Roy’s replacement came in the form of James Vince, He got out after scoring 27 as England were 78 for two in ten overs.

A wicket at that stage would have surely put India on top, but Root and Morgan continued their fine form to deny the visitors another crucial breakthrough. The duo batted India out of the game with an utmost ease.

England crossed the 200-run mark in the 35th over when Morgan hit Chahal for a four. In the same over, Root was stumped but Chahal had overstepped.

There was no looking back since then as England did not give India any chance of making a comeback in the game. The Three Lions eventually reached the target in the 45th over at the loss of just two wickets.

Reliant Root reached his century on the last ball of the game, remaining unbeaten on exactly 100 whereas, skipper Morgan remained unbeaten on 88.

Earlier in the game, David Willey and Adil Rashid picked up three wickets apiece – to help England restrict the visitors to 256 for eight.

Asked to bat first, India were off to a disastrous start. Rohit Sharma once again failed to get going and was out for just two. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli then steadied the ship. India saw off the first powerplay without losing any more wicket.

However, the English bowlers kept things tight from their end as India could manage only 32 in the first ten overs. At the end of the 15 overs, the score was 67 for one.

But just when it looked the duo would bat India to a position of strength, disaster struck. Dhawan was run out for 44 as the 71-run stand came to a disappointing end.

Dinesh Karthik, making his comeback in the team looked good during his brief stay but could not capitalise on the start. He scored 21 off 22 balls before becoming Adil Rashid’s first victim of the game.

Just before Karthik’s dismissal, Kohli had reached his fifty off 54 deliveries.

The India skipper Kohli was looking good and was looking set for a big ton when Rashid cleaned him up.

The leg-spinner delivered a gem of a leg-spin to uproot Kohli’s off-stump and leave the Indian leader shell-shocked. The right-handed batsman scored 71 off 72 balls with the help of eight fours.

Well, two runs later, Rashid struck again, dismissing Suresh Raina for one to leave India reeling at 158 for five.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Hardik Pandya then stopped the rot for a while but they too failed to forge a big stand. The duo added 36 runs before Mark Wood sent back Pandya for 21.

Dhoni alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the score past the 200-run mark. But any hopes of finishing the innings strongly ended when Dhoni departed in the 46th over after scoring 42.

At the fag end of the innings, Bhuvneshwar and Shardul Thakur played handy knocks to help India cross the 250-run mark and put up a decent total.

Also, here is how Twitter reacted to the game between England and India:

Stroll in the park now … England making a very very good India Team look distinctly average today … #ENGvIND

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 17, 2018

India became a better limited over team after losing a final in England last year. Hopefully the loss in this virtual final has the same effect.

— cricBC (@cricBC) July 17, 2018

India missed an opportunity to give both DK and KL Rahul a solid run, have learnt nothing new from this Limited overs series. #EngvInd

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) July 17, 2018

Imagine Kohli winning the toss and electing to bat first on this track as he said he would have if he had won the toss.

The outrage would be unreal after dropping KL, Umesh and then making the wrong decision to bat first. #ENGvIND

— Shubh Aggarwal (@shubh_chintak) July 17, 2018

India pace bowling attack right now – A bowler returning from injury, a bowler with less than 5 ODIs, Hardik Pandya

Rest are the spinners whom the English batsmen have played with utmost cautiousness since they are chasing a par total. Dropping Umesh proving to be a big mistake

— Shubh Aggarwal (@shubh_chintak) July 17, 2018

Virat Kohli is perfect as a brand ambassador for Uber.

Like the cab drivers, he also keeps dropping people all the time ? #ENGvsIND

— Shridhar V (@iimcomic) July 17, 2018

I am impressed with how quickly England have come to terms with India's spinners. It took SA the whole tour earlier this year and they still had no answers, England figure them out in a few games. Credit to them. #ENGvIND

— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) July 17, 2018

#Joe Root causing problems aplenty for India:

Biggest outcome of ODI series is Joe Root has run into terrific form. That's bad news for India heading into the Test series

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 17, 2018

India's bowling looking toothless at this stage. Root's reading of Kuldeep has been excellent

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/aadi88ster/status/1019272682158739456

#Dhoni facing the backlash for another slow innings:

Going by the deliveries he's faced in his last two innings, gotta give Dhoni one thing:

He's got a lotta balls.#ENGvIND

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) July 17, 2018

#Dhoni's innings had done more harm than good for India #ENGvIND

— Kratos (@Huffyduf) July 17, 2018

How often do the experts say “move on from Dhoni” & how often do we get back to depend on him. The middle muddle continues for India & yet again he is left to build it & can't play freely with the tail to follow. Why are we stubborn on not giving @msdhoni no. 4? #EngvInd. @BCCI

— divyang shroff (@divyang_7) July 17, 2018

After all that blocking, nudging and nurdling, Dhoni gets out to a nothing, non-attacking shot anyway, whatever you want to call his laying the platform tactics in the last 10 overs, they look even more silly now #ENGvsIND

— Harry Everett (@HarryEverett_14) July 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/iShubham24/status/1019231351302651904

#ENGvIND now a days Dhoni batting is like asking friends, dude inform me after Dhoni gets out ? ?

— Naveen (@naveensuguru75) July 17, 2018

Dhoni (outside)- I am retiring from Test Cricket.

Dhoni (inside) – I'll play one day cricket as test cricket from now.#INDvENG #ENGvIND

— Lalit (@Wohi_Ladka) July 17, 2018

When is #Dhoni going to retire?

— Suvojit (@suvojitc) July 17, 2018

#Some praise for Rashid Khan:

Guess Rashid Khan is not the only Rashid wreaking havoc with his spin in current LOIs! #AdilRashid

— سانیہ (@touche_always) July 17, 2018

What an over from #Rashid ,#ViratKohli was Batting like a dream, The spinners doing some damage against some of the best players of spin in the world ..arguably #ENGvIND

— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) July 17, 2018

India getting spun out at Headingley. #whatevernext #ENGvIND

— Tim Bresnan (@timbresnan) July 17, 2018

Virat Kohli had the same expression then as Mike Gatting when Shane Warne bowled him in 1993. Absolute belter from Adil Rashid

— Paul Newman (@Paul_NewmanDM) July 17, 2018

#Virat Kohli leads from the front:

This is a very high quality 50 from Virat Kohli….

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 17, 2018

Virat Kohli as ODI Captain:

First 1000 runs: 17 innings
Next 1000 runs: 19 innings
Next 1000 runs: 13 innings

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) July 17, 2018

3000 Runs as ODI Captain for Virat Kohli and he reached there with staggering batting average 83…

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) July 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/strangerr_18/status/1019218504438857729

#Rohit Sharma fails to build on the century in the first ODI and gets the boot:

As Soon As Rohit Sharma Scores A Century In A Particular Series, He Should Be Dropped From The Rest Of The Matches As Everyone Knows He Won't Be Performing Anymore….#ENGvIND

— Babu Bhaiya (@Shahrcasm) July 17, 2018

That’s why I don’t like Rohit Sharma much
He cannot score in big matches when team required the most Rohit scored 2 runs From 19 balls imagine if Dhoni was their in place of him people would have lost their mind #INDVENG

— Jitzmsdian03 (@jitzvijan03) July 17, 2018

#Rahul dropped again and Twitterati does not like it:

One failure and KL Rahul is dropped.. Unfortunate! He looks like India's best bat in all three formats after Virat Kohli. Must be a given a long rope… #ENGvIND

— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) July 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/Kangkan_R/status/1019195921106497538

https://twitter.com/imJR_4/status/1019177801075703808

Today's match story.

1) As soon as Rohit Sharma scores century drop him for rest of series.

2) Suresh Raina is in team for his good looks.

3) KL Rahul should migrate to another country for permanent place in team. #ENGvIND #INDvsENG #INDvENG

— Ravi (@Ravi_Tweets_) July 17, 2018