England registered their first win of their tour of India as they beat India by five runs in the third ODI at Kolkata. India still ended up winning the series 2-1 and the action will now shift to the three-match T20I series.
After winning the toss, India elected to field. England got off to the perfect start with a new-look opening partnership of Jason Roy and Sam Billings. But both batsmen were dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja and although there were three fifties in the England innings, it was only thanks to Stokes and Woakes that they managed to get 321/8.
In response, India lost both openers cheaply. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh began the rebuilding process and soon after Kohli departed, it was Yuvraj and Dhoni who were given the responsibility of guiding India home. In the end, however, it fell on the inexperienced international duo of Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya, who showed plenty of composure but just couldn’t quite get India home in the end.
Here are the major talking points from the game, which also happened to be Kohli’s first loss as a captain in India:
Perfect pitch for ODI
With par scores on the rise and batsmen scoring runs for fun, many fear for the bowlers, especially in ODIs. While T20s have always been about runs and entertainment and Tests being about taking 20 wickets and patience, ODI seemed to be losing relevance.
Afterall, you can’t blame them. It is little fun watching a high-scoring run chase when they are commonplace. If even 350+ total isn’t safe and is likely to be chased more often than not, bowlers become mere cannon fodder. But the pitch provided for the third ODI might be a template for others to replicate so the format doesn’t lose its relevance.
The pitch offered something for the fast bowlers and yet wasn’t heaped in favour of the bowlers making run-scoring difficult. There were six players who scored fifties in the match and big-hitting was still possible, once the batsman was set.
After scores of at least 350 in the last two matches, 321 might have seemed too less but the fact that the pitch was assisting the seamers meant that it was always going to be defendable which is more than what could be said about the first two ODIs of the series.
Stokes redeems himself at Kolkata
The third ODI was going to be a memorable one for a variety of reasons. Could Virat Kohli’s side whitewash England and extend their misery or would the visitors salvage some momentum going into the T20I series? But on a personal note, it was a return to a nightmare for Ben Stokes.
The last time Ben Stokes was at Eden Gardens, he conceded four consecutive sixes off the final over of the World T20 final which West Indies won. But this time around, not only did he score a fifty that helped England post 321/8 but also picked up three crucial wickets including that of Virat Kohli to help his side claim their first victory on this tour.
While the World T20 final may have been in the minds of Eoin Morgan when he decided to not give the final over to Stokes and bowled him out earlier, the all-rounder still managed to do enough to avenge the demons that may have haunted him coming into the final ODI as he walked away with a Man of the Match.
Roy needs to learn to convert
One look at the scorecards throughout the series will tell you who the most consistent batsman has been. Jason Roy finishes the series with three fifties but with no centuries to his name and a highest of just 82. While he has got good starts, England need him to kick on and convert those fifties into big centuries.
When scores of 350 are becoming commonplace, a quick-fire fifty doesn’t cut it anymore, especially from an opener, who has the best conditions to bat in and with the field restrictions in his favour as well.
The good thing for England is that Roy himself acknowledges that there is a problem. “I’m never happy with just a good start. A good start is a good start but winning games is obviously at the forefront of my mind so I've got to be a bit disappointed to be getting out at 70 and 80,” he said before the third ODI.
And as they say, accepting you have a problem is the first step towards correcting it and England will be hoping that Roy can correct that and add to his tally of three ODI centuries before the ICC Champions Trophy in June.
India’s opening woes continues
The audition to see who will partner Rohit Sharma in the Champions Trophy is turning into a nightmare for Virat Kohli. After replacing the ineffective Shikhar Dhawan with Ajinkya Rahane, Kohli would have wanted an answer in this game but for the third time in this series, India’s openers fell cheaply.
Rahane could only manage 1 but was even lucky to get that as he nicked off the first ball of the innings but no appeal meant he wasn’t given out. KL Rahul followed suit not too longer as all three openers that India have tried in the series have failed.
What made KL Rahul’s dismissal all the more concerning was the fact that there was no need for it. With Virat Kohli striking the ball well, there was no need for Rahul to be over-ambitious and try to send the ball out of the park.
Although Rohit is a definite starter as soon as he recovers from his injury, his opening partner for the Champions Trophy is still up in the air as India will have to rely on domestic performances and gut feeling to determine who it will be.
The curious case of Ashwin’s ODI form
Ravichandran Ashwin is undeniably India’s best spinner in Tests and T20Is. His records in those two formats speak for themselves but for some reason or the other, he hasn’t been able to replicate the same form in ODIs, where his struggle was evident in the third ODI.
After picking up three wickets in the second ODI, where he bowled much better, Ashwin went wicketless once again in the third ODI (like he did in the first). What was worse was that he was expensive once again. In each of his last five ODIs, he has conceded at least 60 runs whereas in the 100 ODIs before that, he had conceded over 60 runs only eight times.
In a format that is struggling to maintain relevance, the off-spinner is struggling to make up his mind about how to approach the game. In the first and third ODI, he tried to bowl negative lines in a bid to restrict the runs and didn’t succeed. But when he decided to attack in the second ODI, he picked up three wickets.
While it is true that he hasn’t played an ODI in over an year before this series, Ravindra Jadeja has shown no ring rust and has been economical as well. With the Champions Trophy in England and Mohammad Shami to come back to the side, India might have to drop Ashwin and play three pacers and a spinner in England.
With Yuvraj and Jadhav providing some handy options with the ball, Ashwin might have to improve or else face the axe from the ODI team.
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