England registered a thumping eight-wicket victory over India in the third and final ODI to clinch the series 2-1 at Headingley, Leeds on Tuesday (July 17).
Chasing 257 to win, Joe Root (100 not out) and skipper Eoin Morgan (88 not out) guided England home in 44.3 overs. The duo forged a 186-run partnership for the third wicket. The hosts got off to a flying start, with Jonny Bairstow and James Vince taking the score to 38/0 in just four overs.
The introduction of Shardul Thakur in the fifth over fetched India the important wicket of Bairstow, who scored 30 in just 13 balls. The brilliance of MS Dhoni, who collected the ball in awkward position but still managed to dislodge the bails, ended Vince's innings of 27.
Subsequently, Root and Morgan kept the momentum going by playing risk-free cricket. The duo nullified the Indian wrist spinners with Yuzvendra Chahal (0/41) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/55) going wicketless in their 20 overs.
Earlier, David Willey (3/40) and Adil Rashid (3/49) claimed three wickets apiece as England restrict India to 256/8. Besides, Virat Kohli’s 71, none of the India batsmen managed to cross the mark of 50.
It was England’s first ODI series win over India in seven years while it also ended India's run of nine consecutive one-day series victories. By virtue of this series win, Eoin Morgan and company also strengthened their position as a No.1 ODI team.
Twitter experts were impressed to see the way England players lifted their game in the series-deciding tie at Headingley.
Here are some of the top tweets hailing England’s ODI series victory:
Congratulations England on a really comprehensive win. Well done @root66 on the successive 100's. Hope to see India do well in the test series. #ENGvIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) July 17, 2018
Well played @root66 and England captain @Eoin16 it’s been a very competitive Cricket series.. now looking forward to the test series ahead with two top teams playing #cricketatitsbest @BCCI vs @ECB_cricket
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 17, 2018
Congratulations, @englandcricket on winning the match and the series. You played better cricket in the last two games and deserved to win. @AdilRashid03’s 3 crucial wickets were the key. Also, solid stuff from @root66 and @Eoin16. Match winning partnership. #ENGvsIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 17, 2018
What a series win that is @englandcricket! Two very big wins under pressure! Congrats to everyone involved, especially @root66 on his back to back ????’s
— Alex Hales (@AlexHales1) July 17, 2018
So 3-3 after 6 white ball games. I suspect though that India would gladly trade the T20 series win for a better odi result.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 17, 2018
India were outplayed and have a lot of thinking to do before the World cup. Hope this defeat serves as a blessing in disguise and they are able to arrive at a settled combination. Congratulations to England. #ENGvIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 17, 2018
Jeet beshak hothon par muskurahat laati hai,
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 17, 2018
Lekin haar hi Zindagi ka ek Naya Sabak sikhlaati hai.
I am sure India would learn a lot from this and turn things around quickly.#ENGvIND
The skipper @Eoin16 deserves all the credit for this 2-1 Win ... Batted first at Lords & then bowled at Headingley ... He isn’t scared of going with his instincts ... Leads this team with so much quiet confidence ... #2-1
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 17, 2018
