Pant and Pandya shine as India clinches ODI series at Old Trafford

It was one hell of a journey for the Men in Blue as they secured a remarkable turnaround in the word’s truest sense as Old Trafford stayed witness to history. With the series evenly poised at 1-1 at the end of the Lord’s contest, it was a winner-take-all slugfest set up beautifully for the series finale.

Rohit won the toss for the third time in a row and opted to bowl first on a surface that had something for everyone. An incoming Siraj was straightaway hot on the heels of the English batters as he removed two of England’s most potent contenders back to the pavilion for a duck. The first to depart was Jonny Bairstow as he completely misjudged the line of the delivery while Root’s attempt to defend ended in the arms of Rohit Sharma at first slip. 

Ben Stokes joined forces with Jason Roy and the duo stepped on the gas after shaking off the initial jitters. Hardik Pandya dealt a telling blow to put a halt to the rolling English juggernaut. A short delivery would catch Jason Roy off-guard and his skied effort would be pouched comfortably by an alert Rishabh Pant. Ben Stokes fell in no time either as another shorter hurl from Pandya bore sweeter fruits with the latter catching Stokes of his own bowling.

Despite a quick couple of wickets, England managed to stage a staggering watershed with English captain, Jos Buttler, and Moeen Ali stitching together an incredible stand that would help the hosts to steer away from the looming jeopardy of another collapse. Despite Moeen Ali’s fall in the middle, Buttler would continue building the partnership alongside a soaring Liam Livingstone. As the game progressed, a new battlefront would take shape as Pandya and Livingstone would get involved in a silent exchange of short balls and pulls. Hardik would continue peppering Livingstone with a barrage of short balls while the latter would keep on swinging wildly, most of which would land across the ropes or would steer to the promised lands after a drop or two.

However, in this prolonged psychological battle, it was eventually Hardik Pandya who would have the last laugh as Livingstone picked up a wrong delivery and Jadeja would pull off a mid-air ripper to put an end to this contest. However, much to England’s surprise, their skipper, Jos Buttler would tread down the same path as the Indian all-rounder would pouch would seize an absolute pearler.

Despite bagging the crucial scalps of Buttler and Livingstone in a span of just two balls, the English tail was not giving up so early as David Willey and Craig Overton came together to stitch a crucial stand of 48 runs before Yuzvendra Chahal cleaned up the English tail as India was handed a target of 260. 

From an initial glimpse, it felt like a vertiginous chase that India would be embarking upon. Rohit Sharma started on a seraphic note with a couple of sweetly timed shots that would witness the cherry flying to the ropes. Despite a blinder to start the innings with, India would suddenly start crumbling with Shikhar Dhawan falling to a half-hearted stroke while Rohit Sharma’s outside edge off Topley would fly straight to Joe Root at first slip. Kohli would once again get the start but would fail to carry it forward, falling in an almost similar fashion to Reece Topley as that at Lord’s.

Another start by Suryakumar Kumar would falter in its tracks as Craig Overton would produce the all-important nick. The fall of Yadav however, would open up Pandora’s box for the hosts as Hardik Pandya would explode into a frenzy of boundaries after weathering the initial storm. Pant would have a life too as Jos Buttler made a hash of affairs missing out on a golden opportunity to stump Pant.

The lost chances would come to bite back England hard as Pandya and Pant unleashed the heavy artillery, peppering the English bowlers to all corners of the park. Bringing out the most ingenious strokes, Rishabh Pant turned the game on its head while Pandya fired at a breezy rate to get the scoreboard ticking.

Despite Pandya’s fall just short of the finishing line, Rishabh Pant would ensure that India suffered no more stutters as the Men in Blue would seal the series with 47 balls to spare. Pant would stay unbeaten for 125 while Jadeja would drop anchor at the other end to steer India to the finish line.

Rishabh Pant was awarded the man of the match for his unbeaten 125 that helped India secure an exultant triumph at Old Trafford while Hardik Pandya bagged the man of the series award for a crackling showdown with the bat and the ball.