Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya added a match-winning 133-run stand for 5th wicket for India.
Rishabh Pant smashed a memorable 125* runs and was well supported by Hardik Pandya as India chased down 260 runs to win the third ODI against England by 5 wickets and series by a margin of 2-1.
England had batted first after India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field first. England skipper Jos Buttler top-scored with 60, while receiving support from Jason Roy (41) and Moeen Ali (37) amongst others.
For India, Hardik Pandya picked his best ODI figures of 4/24, while Yuzvendra Chahal picked 3/60 in a fine bowling effort.
The run chase for India was not easy as once again they had lost their key batters early. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shikhar Dhawan were dismissed by Reece Topley for quick runs. And then Suryakumar Yadav also got out cheaply leaving India 72/4.
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Then Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya got together to stitch a valuable 133-run partnership in which Pandya played the aggressor role, hitting 71 in 55 balls with 10 fours.
Rishabh Pant meanwhile batted with rarely seen patience and hit his maiden ODI hundred, finishing with 125* with 16 fours and 2 sixes, hitting five consecutive fours in an over from David Willey. India won by 5 wickets in 42.1 overs and lifted the ODI series trophy with a margin of 2-1.
Revealing what he told Pant during the partnership, Hardik said that he said only one thing to the 24-year-old that they have to take the match as close as possible. He felt that a wicket here could give England an opening to come back.
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Speaking at the post-match press conference, Hardik said: “I was just repeating the same thing and even told him that I am repeating it too much. The talent that he has and the talent that I perhaps have – there was no need to take any risks at that stage.
Without any risks, we could score those runs as there were not many runs to get. The only way England could come back is if we lose back-to-back wickets."
“All I was repeating was that let’s have a partnership, take the match as close as possible, and finish the match. If you then want to enjoy (Pandya smiles), enjoy (“phir tujhe enjoy karna hai to kar le”). Pehle match toh close kar (Finish the match first!). And then he opened up. Everyone knows when he starts hitting, we are like ab hum baith jaate hain, chalo aap khelo (okay, now we can relax and you hit)," he added.
(Times Now News inputs)