India have wrapped up a 2-1 series victory over England after a brilliant all-round performance from Hardik Pandya and a maiden ODI century from Rishabh Pant led them to a five-wicket win in the third and final match.
Having been beaten by a whopping 100 runs in the second ODI on Thursday, India responded excellently at Old Trafford, bowling England out for 259 before knocking off the runs inside 43 overs. Pandya was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, taking the wickets of Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler as he recorded impressive figures of 4-24.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also backed up his brilliant 4-47 at Lord's with 3-60, polishing off the England tail. Mohammed Siraj got India off to the perfect start by removing both Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root for ducks in the second over of the match, while Roy began to find some much-needed form with a more fluent 41 off 31 balls.
When Pandya dismissed Roy and Stokes, England looked in serious trouble at 74-4 before Joe Buttler led a fightback with crucial partnerships alongside Moeen Ali and Livingstone that were worth 74 and 49 runs respectively.
Buttler passed fifty for the first time since becoming England's permanent white-ball captain, but was bounced out by Pandya for 60 just three balls after the all-rounder had done the same to Livingstone.
Craig Overton then helped the hosts pass the 250 mark for the first time in the series with a crucial 32 off 33 balls, but England were still bowled out with 25 balls remaining in their innings. In response, Reece Topley picked up where he left off at Lord's, taking the early wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Topley took the best ever figures by an Englishman in ODI cricket in the previous match and quickly removed both of India's openers in successive overs. He then bowled a beautiful delivery to get Kohli caught behind for 17, leaving India in trouble at 38-3.
Overton then got in on the act, removing Suryakumar Yadav for 16 with his extra bounce accounting for the 31-year-old. However, Pant and Pandya rallied brilliantly for India, sharing a stunning 133-run partnership and capitalising after Buttler missed a stumping chance when Pant was on 18.
Pandya ultimately fell for 71 after an outstanding diving catch from Stokes, but it was too little too late for England. Pant quickly reached his first-ever ODI hundred and finished unbeaten on 125 as India struck the winning runs with 43 balls to spare.
