England defeated India by 8 wickets in the deciding One day international played at Headingley, Leeds just a few moments ago. England captain won the toss and decided to field first, a great bowling effort by England bowlers to restrict India 256 for 8 in 50 overs. Chasing the target of 257, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan brilliant partnership helped the hosts to chase down the modest target with ease.
England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to field first. The Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma started slowly. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 2 off 18 balls by David Willey. Indian captain Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan steadied the innings. At the end of 10 overs, India scored 32 for 1.
After the power play overs, both Kohli and Dhawan played sensibly taking singles, also hitting bad balls away for boundaries. When things were going well for India, Dhawan was run out for 44 off 49 balls. Both Kohli and Dhawan added 71 runs for the 2nd wicket. Dinesh Karthik looked positive and played some lovely strokes. Captain Kohli reached his 48th ODI half-century off 55 balls. Both Dinesh Karthik and Kohli added 41 runs for the 3rd wicket. Adil Rashid dismissed Karthik for 21. MS Dhoni came at number 5, took singles and gave strike rate to captain Kohli.
VIDEO: Adil Rashid leaves Virat Kohli stunned with this beauty of a delivery
Adil Rashid dismissed Kohli for 71 and Suresh Raina in the same over to reduce India to 158 for 5. Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni steadied the innings adding 36 runs for a 6th wicket. Hardik Pandya was dismissed by Mark Wood scoring 21 off 21 balls. MS Dhoni played slowly and with Bhuvneshwar Kumar added 27 runs for the 8th wicket. Dhoni was dismissed for 42 off 66 balls. At the end overs, Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar added 35 important runs to help India post 256 for 8 in 50 overs.
Shardul Thakur remained not out on 22 off 13 balls with 2 sixes. For England, David Willey and Adil Rashid took 3 wickets each. Moeen Ali bowled well giving away 47 runs in 10 overs.
Chasing 257 to win, Jonny Bairstow gave the team a flying start scoring 30 off 13 balls. Shardul Thakur got the important wicket of Bairstow in the 5th over. Bairstow and Vince added 43 runs for the 1st wicket. James Vince looked good with positive strokes. India got the 2nd wicket of James Vince with a run out for 27. At the end of 10 overs, England scored 78 for 2.
After the power play overs, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan played the Indian spinners well. Joe Root reached his half-century off 60 balls while Captain Morgan too reached his half-century off 58 balls.
Both of them continued to play the Indian bowlers with ease. Both of them added unbeaten 186 runs for the 3rd wicket. Joe Root completed his century off 120 balls. England won the match by 8 wickets with 33 balls to spare.
It was India’s first bilateral series loss under Virat Kohli captaincy.
England 260 for 2 in 44.3 overs ( Joe Root 100*, Eoin Morgan 88*, Shardul Thakur 1/51) beat
India 256 for 8 in 50 overs ( Virat Kohli 71, Shikhar Dhawan 44, MS Dhoni 42, David Willey 3/40, Adil Rashid 3/49) by 8 wickets.
Indian captain Virat Kohli said: We were never up to the mark. England was clinical and played with lots of positive intent. We need to have a good balance in the squad and need to act get our act right before the World Cup. The test squad is settled and wanted to play some tough cricket.
England captain Eoin Morgan said: The tone was set by the bowlers. The ball swung for 4-5 overs. The spinners performed brilliantly and restricted the Indian batsmen to 256. After the Trent Bridge loss, we came strongly and won the next two matches easily. We need to play well up to the World Cup and remove any grey areas.
Man of the match Adil Rashid said: The pace bowlers bowled well at the start. Moeen Ali also bowled well to restrict the Indian batsmen. Kohli’s wicket was important. He is one of the greatest batsmen in the world. After the defeat at Trent Bridge, we bounced back well and played Indian spinners well. Always nice to play in front of home ground.
Man of the series Joe Root said: Â Very pleased to contribute to the team. Bairstow and Vince gave the team a flying start which put less pressure on me and Morgan. It was good to pitch to bat on. Our bowlers did a great job to restrict Indian team to 256. Hope to continue the brilliant form in test series.
England won the ODI series 2-1. The 5 match test series starts from 1st August at Edgbaston.
