Indian bowlers held their nerves in face of Sam Curran’s resolve to beat England by seven runs in a thrilling third and final ODI to seal the series 2-1 in Pune on Sunday.
After put in to bat first, India were bundled out for 329 in 48.2 overs with Shikhar Dhawan (67), Rishabh Pant (78) and Hardik Pandya (64) scoring quickfire half-centuries.
Chasing 330 to win, Sam (95 not out off 83 balls) single-handedly kept the hosts in the hunt as he added a 60-run stand with Mark Wood (14) for the ninth wicket but in the end could not score 14 runs needed in the final over.
England ended at 322/9 in their full quota of 50 overs.
Brief Scores:
India: 329 all out in 48.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 78, Shikhar Dhawan 67, Hardik Pandya 64; Mark Wood 3/34).
England: 322 for 9 in 50 overs (Sam Curran 95 not out; Shardul Thakur 4/67, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/42)
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
What a game ! Unlucky Sam Curran could not pull that off after such a great knock ! Natrajan so good under pressure after such little experience!🙌🏻 congratulations team 🇮🇳 to win all 3 series ! @RishabhPant17 special knock ✊ @BhuviOfficial top spell @imShard #INDvsENG
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) March 28, 2021
What a way to finish the series! Top knock, Sam Curran, but india just about managed to sneak home. A fitting end to a remarkable four and a half months for this indian side that should be proud of everything it has achieved! #INDvsENG
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) March 28, 2021
What a show of character.. Had a poor day but come the last over couldn't have nailed it better @Natarajan_91 #INDvsENG
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) March 28, 2021
Big thumps up to @Natarajan_91 for keeping his nerves and bowling those yorkers. Way to go young man
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) March 28, 2021
What a thrilling match! India wins the ODI Series decider by 7 runs. Went right down to the wire.
So: India won the Test Series, India won the T20I Series and tonight India won the ODI Series. Congratulations India! 🇮🇳 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/59sWoodFRV
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 28, 2021
Fantastic win boys!! 🇮🇳
Congratulations #TeamIndia for a stellar performance in the whole series!! 🙌 @BCCI
— Ishant Sharma (@ImIshant) March 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/prithinarayanan/status/1376215214199300097
What a finish to a wonderful series #INDvsENG . Congrats team India @bcci for remarkable ODI series win after test and T20 series win. A perfect end to a great @ECB_cricket tour. What an effort by Sam Curran. Truly remarkable fight 👌
— Thakur Arun Singh (@ThakurArunS) March 28, 2021
Sam Curran#PlayBold #INDvENG #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/bNI4jMbefw
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 28, 2021
Amazing Natarajan last over. Super last over. Terrific Bhuvi-Thakur again. This is a very special series win. #INDvENG #INDvsENG
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) March 28, 2021
The whole Tour of India has been great to watch … tremendous skills,lots of drama,bit of controversy & plenty of talking points … Bloody love cricket … #INDvsENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 28, 2021
3-1 3-2 2-1 .Thank you England for being a good tourist #INDvsENG @MichaelVaughan
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) March 28, 2021
Victory from the jaws of defeat well done #TeamIndia but high time fitness should = good fielding ! #INDvENG
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) March 28, 2021
Sam Curran is some talent and he nearly pulled it off for England. But in the end, Khaali haath aaye thhey, khaali haath jaayenge England waale. Good win for Team India but across formats this has been a well fought series. #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/haA3krhgHw
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 28, 2021
What a way to end this incredibly entertaining series! Quality display of cricket in all the three formats! Congratulations to Team India 🇮🇳 on winning the ODI series.#IndvsEng @BCCI
— Karun Nair (@karun126) March 28, 2021
Nerves of steel Nattu! 👏 #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 @Natarajan_91
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 28, 2021
What a match! Super win by Team India to seize the series! Congratulations! Jai Hind 🇮🇳
And @imVkohli, what a catch that was! 💥#INDvENG
— Shubham Sarangi (@Sarangi_Shubham) March 28, 2021
Curran played brilliant but all credit to Natarajan playing only his second match and coming to bowl the last over after dropping a catch he showed no nerves. He like Curran is a find.
— Mihir Bose (@mihirbose) March 28, 2021
