Pune : A closely fought decider between India and England resulted in an Indian win by just 7 runs as the match went right down to the final over of the second innings. With the win, India registered a series victory and also ensured that they were triumphant in all the different formats on this tour.

England required 23 off 18 at one point and if there was someone who pushed England to that stage it was Sam Curran. He came in at 168/6 and scored 95* off 83 which is the highest individual score for a player batting at 8 or below in an ODI but it was unfortunate for him that noone at the other end could support him to to see his side through. For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued to display his brilliance as he sent both the openers back with the new ball. He, along with the other bowlers, had to bare the brunt of a lot of droped catches which could have nearly cost India the match. But the player who has become the go-to bowler for Virat when the runs are flowing, Shardul Thakur, ended up taking four wickets and did exactly what was expected out of him. He dismissed all of those batsmen that were either well settled at the crease or those who have the ability to swing things their way.

Image courtesy : BCCI

Earlier in the day, when India were reduced to 157/4 and when the chips were down, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya decided to play with the flair and the ability that they are known to play with. Their 99-run partnership in the middle overs was a fresh appraoch as compared to how India have played those overs in the recent past by being content with singles and Doubles.

India had initially set up a strong base as the opening pair of Shikhar and Rohit reached another 100+ partnership but as India lost wickets to the spinners – Rashid and Ali – there was a bit of a troublesome situation considering the overs the overs left in the innings and that not a lot of batsmen were to come. But in the end, India managed to score 329 with contributions from the lower order after the Hardik-Rishabh partnership was over.

The match ended a fairytale season in Indian cricket which began right from the boxing day test match at melbourne to the series win here against the world champions.

Thanks for reading the article and do share your thoughts @kanzzpp on twitter and @shortlegcricketblog on instagram.