IND vs ENG, 3rd ODI: India defend Sam Curran Heroics in thrilling finale to win series 2-1

India beat England by seven runs to seven in a thrilling third and final ODI match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Sunday to take the series 2–1. Sam Curran, playing out of his skin, played one of the most limited limited overs of recent times under pressure and won a remarkable win for the spectators. After the batting of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya helped India score a competitive total of 329 runs on a batting-friendly track, the Indian bowlers also joined the party and stopped the England batsmen on the run-way. When India were in a position to take charge, the battle of Curran caused some trouble to the hosts and this was reflected in their fielding as they took a brilliant catch off Hardik Pandya’s ball. Playing his first game of the series, T Natarajan bowled brilliantly, holding his nerve to defend 13 runs in the final over.

Unlike the previous two matches, Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India a solid start by dismissing both England openers Jason Roy and Johnny Bairstow cheaply in their first two overs.

Despite the quick dismissal of Hardik Pandya in his innings by hero Ben Stokes of the previous match, he failed to cover his debut and was dismissed for 35 after losing a straight toss to T Natarajan in the hands of Shikhar Dhawan.

After his dismissal, Hardik breathed a sigh of relief and folded his hands to thank Dhawan for lifting a large load off his chest. England captain Jos Buttler had a one-day game after a successful review by Indian captain Virat Kohli and he was already out.

David Malan teamed up with Liam Livingstone to form a solid 60-run partnership to keep the game alive in England. Malan scored a half-century in one run – his first in ODIs, while Livingstone supported his brilliant performance with another solid innings of 36 off 31 balls.

Shardul Thakur removed both Malan and Livingstone within a few overs to take charge of India. Moin Ali also played a stormy innings of 29 off 25 balls, but it was Sam Curran, whose ODI half-century named England to a memorable victory.

Earlier, after batting by England captain Jose Butler, India made boarding total fighting thanks to half-centuries from Dhawan, Pant and Pandya.

Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave the hosts a solid start, adding 103 runs for the opening wicket in their first century partnership of the series. Rohit was the first player to be dismissed for 37 runs, while Dhawan continued his fine form and hit another half-century in the series. Both of them were quickly dismissed by leg-spinner Adil Rashid as England pulled things back.

Kohli and KL Rahul were also dismissed cheaply as the England spinners raced on. After that, Pant and Hardik continued to bat with their natural attack and kept the English bowlers under pressure with 99 runs for the fifth wicket.

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However, both players were dismissed quickly and derailed India’s innings. Shardul Thakur bowled a few fast balls towards the end, which helped India cross 300 runs. There was a barrage of wickets in the death overs as India could not play their full quota of 50 overs and were bowled out for 329 runs in 48.2 overs.

Mark Wood was one of the returning bowlers with figures of 3/34 from his seven overs, while Adil Rashid conceded 81 runs in his 10-over spell but was responsible for the crucial wicket of the Indian openers.