LONDON: Captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli’s half-centuries did not go in vain as England beat India by 27 runs to clinch the series 2-1 in the third and final ODI at Lord’s on Sunday, thanks to a fighting century from veteran opener Rohit Sharma.
Chasing a tough target of 388, India were restricted to 360-7 despite a top-order trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill, while the rest of the batting line-up failed to make a significant contribution.
Rohit Sharma chased down 138 runs off 110 balls with 17 fours and 5 sixes. Shubman Gill scored 77 runs off 84 balls including 10 fours and a six.
Virat Kohli scored a fluent 74 off 60 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Apart from the top three, Kurnoor Brar was unbeaten on 18 off 14 balls with a four and a six.
Arshdeep Singh scored 15 runs off 6 balls including 3 fours while Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul scored 14 and 12 runs respectively.
For England, Sam Curran bowled and claimed 4/75 from his 10 overs. Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethel took one wicket each.
Batting first, the hosts amassed 387-3 in the allotted 50 overs thanks to some excellent batting from openers Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethel.
Duckett top scored 141 off 135 balls with 15 fours and a six while Bethel scored 91 off 93 balls including 11 fours and 2 sixes.
Veteran Joe Root scored 74 off 48 balls with 9 fours while Jos Buttler smashed 41 off 13 balls including 4 fours and 3 sixes. Captain Harry Brook was dismissed with 14 runs.
For India, Prasith Krishna led the bowling with figures of 2/69 in 10 overs while Prince Yadav claimed a wicket. Kurnoor Brar endured a tough outing and returned with an unbeaten 0/97 in his 10 overs, the third-highest bowling figures by an Indian bowler in ODI history.