England win by 5 runs in a close contest
January 22, 2017 | SportsGuff Team 1K ReadsEngland has won the third and last ODI of the series in a thrilling encounter against India at Eden Gardens by 5 runs. Despite the loss, India won the three match series 2-1.
Chasing England's total of 321/8, India were once struggling at 5/173. Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya then put on a hundred run partnership to get India back in the game. The match went onto the last over when India required 16 runs from 6 balls. Kedar Jadhav nearly got India home as he hit first ball of the last over for a six and second ball for a four. The equation was now 6 to win from 4. But then Woakes bowled two consecutive dot balls and finally got the wicket of Jadhav in the next. Bhuvneswor Kumar could not produce a magic in last ball with 6 runs required and England won the match.
Earlier, India won the toss and invited England to bat first. England put on the huge score on the board with good contribution from almost all batsmen. Roy was brilliant at the top with 65 runs. Bairstow too completed his half century coming into bat at number 3. It was Stokes who quick 57 towards the end. Contributions from Billings (35), Morgan (43) and Woakes (34) made sure that England set a target of 322 for India to chase.
Ben Stokes was named Man of the Match for his contribution with both bat and ball. Kedar Jadhav was named Player of the Series for his consistent performance with the bat.
Match Summary:
England 321 for 8 (Roy 65, Stokes 57*, Bairstow 56, Pandya 3-49)
beat
India 316/9 (Yadhav 90, Pandya 56, Kohli 55, Stokes 3-63)
by 5 runs