India came within touching distance of England’s total but ultimately fell short by 5 runs. Despite Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya sharing 83 balls-104 runs partnership, India lost the game in a nail-biting finish at the Eden Gardens. India still won the series 2-1.
Kedar Jadhav kept India in the hunt till the last over
India, chasing 322 to win, lost the two openers Rahane and Rahul under the first six overs. The next men in, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh steadied the Indian innings. The duo share a brisk 65 run partnership during which Kohli completed his half-century. Kohli was then caught behind on a Ben Stokes delivery. Yuvraj and Dhoni soon departed after short stays at the crease. After the dismissal of Dhoni, India were struggling at 5-173 in 32 overs.
Hardik Pandya’s allround performance led India close to victory
Jadhav and Pandya then took charge and shared a century partnership between themselves. Pandya departed in the 46th over while India were still needing 45 runs to win. Jadeja and Ashwin’s stay at the crease were short lived as both of them were out by the end of 48th over. India required 16 runs in the last over with Jadhav on the strike. He dispatched the first two balls for a six and a four but missed the next two balls. He was caught out in deep cover by Sam Billings off Woakes’ second-last ball of the match. India needed a six off the last ball but Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed. India thus lost the last game of the series by 5 runs.
First ODI:Kohli-Jadhav centuries lead India to victory against England in the first ODI
Earlier in the day, batting first, England scored a total of 321-8 in their 50 overs. Leading from the front, Jason Roy scored his third consecutive half-century of the series. All the players in England’s top order made significant contributions. Jonny Barstow’s half century and powerful hitting by Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes in the slog overs meant that England finished above 300, a pretty much defendable total on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch. Hardik Pandya finished with figures of 3-49 in 10 overs.
Second ODI:India defeat England at Barabati, take unassailable 2-0 lead in the series
The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli called this series “a series of great finds” and that “the team took a lot of positives from the series”.
Ben Stokes was adjudged the Man of the Match for his 39 ball 57 and taking 3 wickets. Kedar Jadhav was awarded the Man of the Series for his 232 runs at a strike-rate of 144.1 in this series.
The two teams now head to Kanpur for the first of the three T20 international on 26th January.
