Twitter Reactions: Rishabh Pant's ton, Hardik Pandya's all-round brilliance take India to series win

India beat England by five wickets in the third ODI.

By Karthik Nair

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Rishabh Pant
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Rishabh Pant. (Photo by Gareth Copley – ECB/ECB via Getty Images)

India registered a convincing five-wicket win in the third ODI at Old Trafford, Manchester to seal the series 2-1. By the virtue of this victory, the Men in Blue also ended up registering their first-ever ODI series triumph on English soil after 2014. Wicketkeeper-batter and centurion Rishabh Pant was the architect of this win and he got outstanding support from star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Hardik yet again made an impression with his all-round brilliance in this limited-overs series. He first emerged as the pick of the Indian bowlers with a four-wicket haul before scoring an impactful half-century in a stiff run chase that saw India lose their top-order with hardly anything on the board.

Rishabh Pant’s spectacular century blows England away

Earlier in the match, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma called it right at the toss for a third straight time and decided to bowl first. India had to make a forced change for this decider as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was left out due to a niggle and Mohammed Siraj was given a chance.

The Hyderabad-based pacer produced a double-wicket maiden in his first over where he accounted for Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root for ducks. The Three Lions lost their top-order in the 14th over and were reduced to 74/4 and that is when skipper Jos Buttler came to the rescue with a valiant half-century as he scored 60 runs. Hardik Pandya took 4/24 and Yuzvendra Chahal chipped in with 3/60 as the Three Lions were restricted to 259 in the 46th over.

In reply, the Indian chase began on a disastrous note as openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were dismissed early and Virat Kohli also walked back for just 17. India were reeling at 72/4 after Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal before Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya carried out the rescue act.

The duo added 133 runs for the fifth wicket before Pandya was dismissed for a brave knock of 71. Pant then single-handedly took control of the proceedings and notched up his maiden ODI century. He smashed David Willey for five straight fours in the 42nd over before hitting a four off part-timer Joe Root to hit the winning runs for India with less than eight overs to spare. The southpaw remained unbeaten on 125 runs off 113 deliveries.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to India’s famous win:ย 

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