Hardik shines as England fold for 259

Hardik Pandya stood tall with a four-wicket haul as England once again put up a not-so-convincing performance with the bat in the series decider at Old Trafford on Sunday (July 17). Skipper Jos Buttler was the only batter to go past 50 as the rest of the lineup failed to provide the supporting act.

India had no hesitation in opting to bowl first with the series on the line as England went in with an unchanged lineup. The visitors however were forced to bring in Mohammed Siraj in place of Jasprit Bumrah, who had to be rested as a result of a niggle. However, it was Siraj who hurt England the most at the start with the new ball as he got rid of Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root in just the second over. Even though Jason Roy started proceedings with three boundaries in the first over, England found themselves in trouble losing two key batters for ducks.

Ben Stokes and Roy then counter-punched their way out of trouble with a flurry of boundaries to catch the new ball bowlers off guard. Roy in particular was looking in ominous touch but once again India found an answer to end the assault as Hardik came into the attack and struck straightaway. Cramping the batter for room throughout the over, Hardik built up the pressure that resulted in Roy top-edging a pull shot. Two overs later, the allrounder struck again and this time, another short ball did the trick as Stokes came down the wicket, found himself in a tangle that resulted in Hardik taking a return catch.

At 74/4, England needed a partnership to bail themselves out of trouble and Buttler found an able partner in the form of Moeen Ali. The allrounder went into a shell at the start, taking 26 deliveries for just 5 runs. With the run rate taking a massive dip, both Buttler and Moeen finally broke the shackles with a few boundaries on the trot. While Buttler took on Chahal for a six over long on, Moeen punished Siraj for a couple of fours and a six. Two more sixes followed off Chahal as the pair raised a half-century stand to get England back on track. Against the run of play, India struck again as Moeen edged one behind down leg off Ravindra Jadeja.

Even though Buttler and Liam Livingstone did ready themselves for a final flourish, Hardik came back into the attack to remove both the set batsmen in the same over to severely dent England's chances of getting closer to 300. On both occasions, Jadeja's excellent fielding skills came to the fore. Once Hardik registered his best ODI figures, David Willey and Craig Overton hung in for a while to drag the hosts past the 250-run mark before Chahal redeemed himself by polishing off the tail.

Brief scores: England 259 in 45.5 overs (Jos Buttler 60, Jason Roy 41; Hardik Pandya 4/24, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/60) vsIndia