Match Report
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur Guides India To The Series Win
By CricShots - Mar 29, 2021 8:07 am
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The ODI series-decider between India and England was as dramatic as it can get. Catches were dropped, a lot of runs were scored, wickets were taken at crucial intervals, and the last-over finish as well. It took the penultimate delivery of the series to decide the winner between the top two ODI sides and a lot of credit for the same goes to Sam Curran who never gave up during his unbeaten 95-run knock and the Indian bowlers, especially, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur. 

hardik pant
Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant kept the omentum for India

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, the Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started off in a hurry as the visitors batted dominatingly in the last game. But just when Rohit was firing up, Adil Rashid beat him with googly, and then, England managed to get some quick wickets as they dismissed Dhawan, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Dhawan scored a very good half-century before being hitting one straight back to Rashid. Moeen Ali dismissed the Indian skipper while Rahul got out off a harmless full-toss.

ALSO READ: Ben Stokes Checked Shardul Thakur’s Bat For Smashed For A Six

From 103/0, India was reeling at 157/4, but Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya made sure that the run-rate doesn’t drop as they sent the English bowlers on a backfoot with their fearless batting as they made a 99-run stand. Unfortunately, both of them got out after getting to their respective half-centuries and Krunal Pandya failed to accelerate. However, Shardul Thakur added valuable 30 runs with three sixes, but India lost their last four wickets for just 8 runs to get bundled out for 329 runs in the 49th over. 

bhuvneshwar kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar drew the first blood for India

Having restricted India to 329, England fancied their chances t chase it down as Jason Roy smashed 14 runs in the first over before getting cleaned up by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the last ball of the over.  In his next over, Bhuvi pinned Jonny Bairstow in front of the stumps to leave England reeling at 28/2. Ben Stokes would’ve also gone back early if Hardik Oandty hadn’t dropped a sitter.

ALSO READ: Jonny Bairstow Feels Teams Hitting More Boundaries, Win The Games

However, T Natarajan made sure that Stokes doesn’t last long. Jos Buttler’s poor form continued which left England reeling at 95/4 in the 16th over. A 59-run stand between Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone steadied the ship but, then they lost wickets in regular intervals as they came down to 200/7 in the 31st over when Sam Curran’s catch was dropped, who later on made the most of it. 

sam curran
Sam Curran kept England in the game

Curran reached his half-century with apt supports from Adil Rashid and Mark Wood as England needed 41 runs off the last four overs and then Shardul Thakur gave away 18 runs in the 47th over to bring the equation down to 23 off the last three overs. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik ave away just 9 runs in the next two overs with England needing 14 in the final over. Natarajan landed his deliveries in the right areas in the 50th over as India clinched the series with a 7-run win. 

Here is how netizens reacted to India’s series win:

 

Tags Bhuvneshwar KumarFinal ODIHardik PandyaInd vs EngRishabh PantSam CurranShardul ThakurTwitter Reactions

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