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Patna : India beat England by 7 runs in the 3rd ODI at Maharshtra Cricket Stadium, Pune, on March 28, 2021, night, in a nail biting finish to win the three-match series 2-1 the outstanding effort of all-rounder Sam Curran, who remained unbeaten on 95 in 83 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes, notwithstanding.
Shardul Thakur took 4/67 and Bhuvneshwar Prasad 3/42 while T Natarajan took 1/73. Chasing a target of 330 runs, England could score only 322/9 in 50 overs. England would have lost by a bigger margin but for the brilliant effort of Sam Curram, who was fittingly named Player Of The Match. Jonny Bairstow was named Player Of The series. India had also won the T20I series 3-2 and the four-match test series 3-1.
England were reduced to 200/7 when Moeen Ali fell to Bhuvneshwar Prasad for 29 runs on the third ball of 31st over but Sam Curran took the fight to another level by his heroic knock. His unbeaten 95 runs is highest by a Number 8 batsman in international cricket. Curran added 57 runs with spinner Adil Rashid (19) for the 8th wicket. He also added 60 runs with fast bowler Mark Wood (14 run out) for the 9th wicket. Dawid Malan also scored 50 runs whuile Ben Stokes made 35.
England had won the toss and opted to bowl. Batting first, Indiawere all out for 329 in 48.2 overs with Rishabh Pant scoring 78 in 62 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes while all-rounder Hardik Pandya scored 64 in 44 balls hitting 5 fours and 4 sixes. Shardul Thakur scored 30 runs in 21 balls hitting 1 four and 3 sixes, one each of Mark Wood, Reece Topley, and Ben Stokes. Krunal Pandya scored 25 runs in 34 balls.
Earlier, Openers Rohit Sharma (37 runs) and Shikhar Dhawan (67 runs) added 103 runs for the first wicket. Rohit fell to spinner Adil Rashid making it 103/1. Dhawan also fell to Adil Rashid and it was 117/2. Captain Virat Kohli fell to Moeen Ali for 7 and it was 121/3. Lokesh Rahul fell to Liam Livingstone for 7 and it was 157/4. But, Pant and Hardik Pandya added 99 runs for the 5th wicket. Pant fell to Sam Curran for 78 and it was 256/5. Hardik Pandya fell to Ben Stokes making it 276/6.
India hit 11 sixes in the match to 7 by England.