That's all from us folks! England take series and India were just poor on the day. India's Test squad comes out tomorrow and the series gets underway on August 1. Until next time then ...
England vs India, 3rd ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary
India will bank heavily on Rohit, Kohli and Dhawan to win the series. © Getty
STATSBUZZ -
Most 100s for ENG in ODIs:
13 JOE ROOT
12 M Trescothick
10 E Morgan
09 K Pietersen
08 G Gooch
07 D Gower
England's seventh successive bilateral series win at home equaling their longest run between June 2010 and June 2012.
Beat SL 3-0, 2016
Beat Pak 4-1, 2016
Beat Ire 2-0, 2017
Beat SA 2-1, 2017
Beat WI 4-0, 2017
Beat Aus 5-0, 2018
Beat Ind 2-1, 2018
THAT'S THAT -ENGLAND WIN BY 8 WICKETS; TAKE SERIES 2-1
Adil Rashid, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan collaborated to end India's unbeaten run in bilateral ODI series' as England cruised to an eight-wicket win. India's run of nine series wins ended with a poor show from the batsmen, a lethargic performance by the fielders and in the end, just when it mattered the most, India's wrist spinner failed to live up to the expectations. Set 257, it took the hosts just 44.3 overs to polish the target off.
It was Rashid who turned the tide in England's favour. The legspinner dismissed Virat Kohli for 71 in the 31st over and then picked up Suresh Raina to put England on top. From there on, it was a struggle. MS Dhoni struggled, Hardik Pandya failed to get going and India crawled a well below-par total.
On a pitch with plenty of aid for the spinners, England's spinners - Rashid and Moeen Ali - collaborated to strangle India with combined figures of 3 for 96. Once put in, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were put through a thorough test of their skills. Rohit lost his cool, and his wicket to David Willey, but Dhawan weathered the storm.
As expected, better scoring opportunities were in store as things eased out once the Powerplay was done. Dhawan was also helped by Kohli's urgency early on. They collaborated to score 71 for the second wicket and get the innings going. And then, came the first self-inflicted wound. Dhawan backed up too far and was sent back through a run out in the 18th over. A direct hit from Stokes ended Dhawan's stay after he had settled in for a 49-ball 44.
India's musical chair to find the idea No. 4 candidate continued as Dinesh Karthik found himself part of the first XI in the team sheet ahead of KL Rahul. Karthik looked in sublime touch and looked to be taking the game away from England. He too failed to get going and chopped one back on to his poles from Adil Rashid in the 25th over. He had 21 off 22 but promised a lot more.
A period of lull followed as Dhoni tried to settle in and Kohli tried to revive the innings. India had 156 for 3 and had 20 overs to go. Kohli was the insurance that India desperately needed with three batsmen to come who don't quite inspire confidence. Kohli's dismissal meant the innings lost momentum and never really took off.
However, at the half-way mark, all was not lost but the onus was on Indian spinners to make the game. What panned out was an assault that landed the knockout punch inside the powerplay. India scored 32 for the loss of one wicket in the first ten overs. England took four overs to go past that total as boundaries flowed from the willow of Jonny Bairstow.
Bairstow was at 30 off nine at one stage before he fell to Shardul Thakur in the fifth over. James Vince (27) was run out in the tenth over with 74 on the board but then the door was shut on India by Morgan and Root. They scored 186 for the third wicket and kept the team motoring towards the target. The pacers looked toothless while the spinner failed to create any impact. It was a pedestrian performance and England made merry. Root's second consecutive ton came in the 45th over with England just one shy.
England will take plenty of positives, especially about the way they handled the spinners but they aren't the complete side just yet. Ben Stokes's form remains a concern while Liam Plunkett's performance was masked by the brilliant show from Mark Wood and Willey.
TEAM NEWS: India will hope Bhuvneshwar gets fit for the contest. Jason Roy has a laceration on his finger and will have to undergo a fitness Test ahead of the contest.
Hello and welcome to the live blog of the third and final ODI between England and India in Leeds. With the series tied at 1-1, England will look to take revenge for the T20I series loss while India will hope they can inflict another dent and create doubts in the England camp about the favourites tag that has put on them ahead of the 2019 World Cuo.
With less than 12 months to go for the 2019 World Cup, all the focus from the camps of the top two ODI sides is understandably on the big tournament.
The three-match series, has thus, been a medium for England - the biggest contenders to break their 50-over World Cup trophy duck in 2019 - to size up a side that might be their biggest adversary. For India, it is not just taking a good, hard look at the tournament favourites, but also making notes of the conditions at play in England, and identifying the sort of players that can fit in.
Both the pre-match press conferences had a lot of talk about looking into the future and tuning up for the world cup, while treating the third ODI as 'just another game.' England pacer Mark Wood even reckoned how a series win would have more of an impact on the upcoming World Cup, than anything else. "If we can use this game as a semi final, a must win with the pressure on, we can learn what we are doing wrong if we don't win or what we are doing right if we do win."
This comes a day after captain Eoin Morgan expressed his concerns about the point of a bilateral series as there can be a clear absence of pressure.
The 'pressure' of a series finale hasn't reflected in the Indian camp either. The top-three of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been India's best performers with the bat since the 2015 World Cup, but the team needs a fixed and functioning middle-order by the time they return to England next year.
After the sort of dire performance that was put up at Lord's, Leeds ODI looks like a good starting point for a middle-order renaissance. England, meanwhile, can ride the wave and have their bowlers test and raise their game further against one of the finest top-orders in the game currently.
© Cricbuzz
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