3rd ODI: England post competitive 259 against India

MANCHESTER: Indian bowlers had a great day as fantastic bowling spells from Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal restricted England to just 259 in 45.5 overs in the third and final ODI of the series here at Manchester on Sunday, though solid knocks from came from the willow of Jos Buttler, Jason Roy and Moeen Ali.

England had two good partnerships, with one being a 66-run stand between Jason Roy (41) and Ben Stokes (27) and a 75-run stand between Moeen Ali (34) and Jos Buttler (60).

Otherwise, Indians took wickets at regular intervals and did not really allow the English batters to go all out on them. Hardik Pandya finished with a fantastic spell of 4/24.

Put to bat first by India, England was off to a horrific start. Pacer Mohammed Siraj sent packing both Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root back to the pavilion for a duck in the second over within a span of four balls. England was two down at 12 runs.

Shreyas Iyer caught Bairstow at mid-off while skipper Rohit Sharma caught Root at slips. This brought Ben Stokes to the crease. The duo started scoring some runs for England with some delightful boundaries.

The duo crossed the 50-run partnership mark in the ninth over of the match.

Shortly, Roy was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for 41 off 31 balls after the ball hit the top edge of his bat and landed in hands of wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. England was 66/3 at this stage.

At the end of 1st powerplay in ten overs, England was at 66/3, with Jos Buttler (0*) and Stokes (24*). India did some tight bowling for the next few overs, making pressure on England without conceding heavy runs.

Ben Stokes was the next wicket in the 14th over as he was caught and bowled by Pandya for 27 off 29 balls.

All-rounder Moeen Ali was next up on the crease. England was 74/4 and needed a partnership. The duo of Buttler and Ali did just that. They both got settled by focussing on strike rotation first.

At the end of 20 overs, England was at 91/4, with Buttler (14*) and Moeen Ali (5*). The duo started hitting some big shots after crossing 20 overs, with Moeen Ali being more aggressive of the duo.

Buttler-Ali brought up their 50-run stand in the 23rd over. Buttler and Ali continued to score after that before Ravindra Jadeja trapped Ali for 34 off 44 balls in the 28th over after the extra bounce climbed off the face of Ali's bat and went straight into Pant's gloves.

The 75-run stand between the duo was also done and dusted. Liam Livingstone was the next man on the crease.

Buttler and Livingstone picked up from where Ali had left and formed another valuable partnership.

Buttler reached his half-century, his 21st in ODIs. Livingstone also struck four good boundaries.

The duo fell one short of adding 50-runs to their stand as Livingstone was dismissed by Pandya for 27 off 29 after he was caught by Jadeja at deep backward square leg.

Buttler was the next one to go just three balls later, dismissed for 60 off 80 balls. England were 7 down at 199. The next pair to take England forward was David Willey and Craig Overton.

The duo kept the scoreboard ticking for England with some solid strike rotation and some careful hits sent down the fence. Willey-Overton put on 48-runs before Willey fell to Chahal for 18 off 15 after Suryakumar Yadav caught him at the long-off.

Brydon Carse was up next on the crease. Chahal took two more in the match, dismissing Overton for 32 and Reece Topley for a duck. England was bundled out for 259.

Pandya finished off as pick of the bowlers for India, taking 4/24. Chahal also took 3/60.

Siraj got two wickets while Jadeja got one.

Brief Scores: England: 259 in 45.5 overs (Jos Buttler 60, Jason Roy 41, Hardik Pandya 4/24) against England.