Eng vs Ind, 3rd ODI, Top Performances: Pant's 125* Hardik's 71, 4-27 aid India bag series 2-1

England vs India, 3rd ODI, Manchester, Top Performances: Rishabh Pant's 125*, Hardik's 71, 4-27 and Reece Topley's 3-35 are top performances. India win ODI series by 2-1.

Rishabh Pant gets player of the match for unbeaten 125 runs (Source ©Getty Images)

Brief Scores: India 261/5 (Pant 125*, Hardik 71, Topley 3-35) beat England 259 (Buttler 60, Roy 41, Hardik 4-24) by five wickets and won series 2-1.

Player of the Match: Rishabh Pant (125 runs)

Player of the Series: Hardik Pandya (100 runs, 6 wickets)

Hosts England, after managing a 100-run win during the second ODI to heal the wounds of their 10-wicket defeat in the first game, locked horns with India for the deciding third ODI at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first on a track which was expected to be batting-friendly throughout the whole game. While England went with the same eleven, India included Mohammad Siraj replacing injured Jasprit Bumrah.

India pocketed another ODI series by 2-1

Asked to bat first, England got off to a poor start losing in-form Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root on personal ducks before stabilizing the ship with a brief 54-run stand. India fought back with two back-to-back wickets as captain Jos Buttler stood tall for his 60 to contribute heavily to the team's total.

Wickets were falling from the other end before Craig Overton's tiny knock of 33 took England to 259. For the first time, since 2015, England got all out in three consecutive ODIs.

India were facing all sorts of troubles being reduced to 72-4 before Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant shared a 133-run stand to recover the innings. The latter managed his maiden ODI century to seal the series for India by 2-1.

Let's scan the top performances from the third ODI between England and India:

Hardik Pandya gets player of the series for his all-round performances (Source ©Getty Images)

Hardik Pandya lighted up with all-round contributions

The dream run for Hardik Pandya continues as he carried on with his superb bowling performances from the T20I series. Even after losing two early wickets, the world champions were smashing the ball all around the park when Hardik was introduced into the attack.

In his fifth ball, he bounced out Jason Roy with a short ball that managed to take the top edge of Roy and died in the gloves of Rishabh Pant; this is the second time Pandya got Roy's number in ODIs. An over later, Ben Stokes tried to use his feet but can't keep the short ball down as Hardik took an easy running catch of his bowling to send back the big fish for the second time in ODIs.

There was a little battle going on between Hardik Pandya and Liam Livingstone; the latter cracked two sixes off Pandya but in an attempt to get the same result against a good length delivery, Livingstone found Ravindra Jadeja at square leg as Hardik won the ego battle. In the same over, he got rid of good-looking Jos Buttler on 60 with another short ball as Buttler's miscued pull ended in the hands of running Jadeja. Buttler got dismissed by Hardik for the third time in ODIs.

Pandya finished with 4-24 in his seven overs and became just the second player after Shakib Al Hasan to take 4+ wicket hauls against opposition at their won home in all three formats.

Even coming at a shaky phase where India was reduced to 72-4, Hardik stitched up a 133-run partnership with Pant. The former took his time earlier before going wild against the bowlers and depositing his eighth fifty in ODIs becoming the fifth Indian to take four wickets and score a fifty in ODIs while the first one in doing so outside Asia.

Pandya scored 71 in just 55 balls that consisted of 10 boundaries to play a pure all-rounder's show. Hardik is now just the second player after Mohammad Hafeez to take 4-wickets and score a fifty in an innings across all three formats.

Read More: Eng vs Ind, 2nd ODI, 2022, Top Performances: India succumb to 100-run loss as Topley claims 6-24

Topley gets Kohli, Rohit and Shikhar in 3rd ODI at Manchester (Source ©Getty Images)

Topley topples the Indian top order with 3-35

Reece Topley with record figures of 6-24 was the real destructor for the hosts at Lord's during the second ODI exploring India's weakness against the left-arm pacers.

Defending an average score of 260, Topley drew the first blood with a full ball that was driven hard by Shikhar Dhawan in the hands of the backward point fielder. This was the third time Topley had Dhawan's number in ODIs.

The lanky bowler gave India another blow getting rid of the opponent captain, Rohit Sharma, who pushed another ball away from his body to get the outside edge to the slips on 17.

Virat Kohli, in his same old fashion, fished out to a wide delivery around that fourth-fifth stump from Topley to be dismissed on 17 as the Surrey pacer pocketed the Indian top order inside the powerplay. He finished with 3-35 in seven overs.

Read More: Kohli rested for WI series; Does he have a future in T20Is with the advent of Hooda & Surya?

Pant's unbeaten 125 helps India beat England at Manchester (Source ©Getty Images)

Entertaining Pant toys with the England bowlers to smash

Rishabh Pant was due for a high score since that fifth Edgbaston Test. He was cold during the T20 series and the last two ODIs. Coming at 21-2, Pant took his time initially to get set on this track before smashing a few boundaries against the England bowlers.

With every boundary, he was boosted with high confidence. He also began to recover the Indian innings in a stand with Hardik Pandya. Pant didn't take many risks and jogged to his fifth ODI fifty in 71 balls with a boundary.

Since that point, he charged on the bowlers; he smacked Overton for two consecutive boundaries before sending the bowler into the fence over the mid-on region. The six he hoisted over mid-wicket, bent on his knees, was a thrill to watch.

With a single, Pant registered his maiden ODI century after 27 games. With that hundred, he became just the second Indian wicket-keeper after Ms Dhoni to score a Test and ODI century. Pant also joins Rahul Dravid and KL Rahul to score ODI centuries by designated Indian wicket-keepers outside Asia.

Pant just tore away David Willey for five back-to-back boundaries in various parts of the ground to seal the series for India with an unbeaten 125 in 113 balls that were arranged with 16 boundaries and a couple of sixes.

Read More: Eng vs Ind, 1st ODI, 2022, Top Performances: Bumrah's 6-19 skittles England for 110; India 1-0 up

Rishabh Pant (Player of the Match): Hopefully I will remember it for the rest of my life. I was just focusing on one ball at a time. That's what you want when the team is under pressure. I enjoy playing in England and will do everything to keep that going. The more cricket I will play, the more experience I will gain. The pitch was best to bat on, so credit to our bowler to keep them to 260. Not only this game, but they have also bowled well through the series.

Hardik Pandya (Player of the Series): White ball is something very close to me. I cherish this format. We all know how good England can be as a team. For us, it was vital to check our plans before the World Cup. It's important for me to bowl dot balls and stop the runs. I love short ball; don't fancy others taking on me. I always feel I'm shameless as a bowler. Don't care how far I get hit until I am getting wickets. Pant has been an excellent talent and knows how to play situations. The way he finished the game was so special.

Rohit Sharma (Indian captain): Very pleased to achieve what we wanted as a tea, in white ball. Not an easy place to come and win games. It was a good pitch but we knew it was not going to be easy if we lose early wickets. Positives have been that the middle order has batted well and at no point, we were panicking. Chahal has been a critical member for us; he has come back well after the WC. Not really worried about the top order. We didn't play some good shots. It's one of those series where the top order hasn't arrived to the party. We have some solid guys sitting in the bench waiting for their chances. Injuries are bound to happen, have to manage workloads. We have got some guys who will get their opportunity in West Indies.

Jos Buttler (England captain): I thought we were short, so we needed a good start. Throughout the summer, we haven't batted well. Topley has been brilliant. Delighted to see him bowling but due to that close schedule, we need to care take of him too. There were half chances which should have been grabbed. If we took those, India's tail couldn't get hold of the game. Missed a chance but don't think it has anything to do with the captaincy. Look forward to welcoming Adil Rashid to the next South Africa series.

What's to come

Just after four days break, India will play the first of the three-match ODI series against West Indies starting on 22nd July at the Queen's Pank Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

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