With the ODI series level at 1-1, England was determined to take the honours after India had won the T20Is 2-1.
Eoin Morgan sent the Indians into bat and, after a slow start, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli pushed the run rate close to five to the over before Ben Stokes brilliantly ran the latter out for 44 (49 balls, seven fours).
Kohli kept things ticking over with the middle-order before being bowled by Adil Rashid for 71 off 72 balls (eight fours). MS Dhoni again weighed in with runs but once again he batted uncharacteristically slowly, his 42 coming off 66 balls (four fours). Contributions came throughout the innings, with Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each scoring 21, while Shardul Thakur (batting at number nine) went one run better, weighing in with an undefeated 22 off just 13 balls.Thakur’s blistering innings included two sixes to lift his side to a respectable (but far from daunting) 256-8 off their 50 overs.
David Willey (3-40) and Rashid (3-49) bowled superbly, while Mark Wood played a key role in keeping the run rate down with figures of 10-2-30-1 (econ 3.00).
In reply, Jonny Bairstow raced to 30 off 13 balls (seven fours), while his opening partner, James Vince, scored a run-a-ball 27. When skipper Morgan and Joe Root came together with the score on 74-2, England were scoring at over eight to the over, well ahead of the required run rate. The pair batted sensibly together, both passing their half-centuries as the run-rate dipped below four to the over and the pressure on India started cranking up.
The India attack proved unable to break their partnership, although Morgan was dropped by Kumar after the batsman misplaced an on-drive off a well-disguised slow ball from Pandya with his score on 85.
Root hit the winning runs with a four shortly after to end on 100 not out off 120 balls (10 fours). It was Root’s 13th ODI ton and followed on from his undefeated 113 in the previous ODI.
Morgan was undefeated on 88 (108 balls, nine fours, one six) as the pair shared a third-wicket stand of 186 that brought England victory by eight wickets with more than five overs in hand, as big-hitting Stokes and Jos Buttler waited eagerly for action with their pads on in the pavilion.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the only bowler able to keep the batsmen under control, bowling his 10 overs at 4.1 runs to the over.
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
