STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsHardik Pandya creates history
After successfully returning to competitive cricket in the Indian Premier League, Hardik Pandya has been the most valuable player for his franchise, Gujarat Titans and the Indian team with his all-around abilities.
On a muggy morning in Old Trafford, Hardik made optimum use of the conditions on offer and derailed the batting unit of England by scalping four wickets for 24 runs in his seven-over spell.
While he ensured India bundle out England for 259 runs in 46 overs with his hostile spell, he also bailed the side out of a jittery situation in the run chase.
In pursuit of 260 for a series win, the Men in Blue were tottering at 72 for four in 17 overs when Hardik walked in at number six. The right-handed batter consolidated the innings with Rishabh Pant and forged a vital 133-run stand for the fifth wicket to help India crawl their way back into the contest.
En route this match-defining stand, he smashed a brutal 71 off 55 deliveries studded with ten boundaries to become the first Indian player to score a fifty and take four wickets in a single ODI game away from home.
His heroics with the bat ensured India were well on course of a famous series win.
Rishabh Pant crafts his way to his maiden ODI hundred
While all the attention was on Hardik and his blistering strokeplay, Pant silently went about his business in the match-winning partnership.
The southpaw walked in at number four at the fall of Rohit Sharma's wicket in the fifth over and anchored the run chase with a sublime 125 off 113 balls with 16 boundaries and two massive hits over the fence.
The 24-year-old became only the second Indian wicket-keeper to score a century on England soil after Rahul Dravid's masterclass of 145 runs against Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1999.
While this is his maiden hundred in the fifty-over format, it makes it extra special for him as this is the first time he has scored an overseas hundred in a winning cause across formats.
Apart from this ton, the left-handed batter has four centuries in Tests, with three of them coming in a losing cause. He scored an unbeaten 159 against Australia in 2019 at Syndey, but the match ended in a draw.
India thump England for the 100th time
A sublime hundred from Pant and a clinical performance with the ball ensured the visiting side registered an emphatic five-wicket win against England and clinched the series 2-1.
With the win, India completed a century of wins against England, which is the third most for them against any opposition. The Men in Blue have 132 wins against Sri Lanka and 102 against the Windies, which are the top two nations on this list. England have now lost three bilateral series at home since 2015, two against Australia in 2015 and 2020 and one against India in 2022.
Joe Root's forgettable outing
One of the mainstays in the batting unit of the England team in the red-ball format, Joe Root enthralled the fans with a sublime 142 in the second innings to propel his side to a seven-wicket win and level the Test series in Edgbaston.
Over a week after his scintillating performance in the longest format, things seemed to have gone downhill for the right-handed batter, albeit in a different form of the game.
In the three innings of this series, Root managed only 11 runs and has an average of 3.6, which is the lowest for him in a series at home with a minimum of three innings.
The last time he endured a dismal outing with the bat was against Australia in 2013, where he scored only 36 runs in four outings and had an average of nine, which is the second-worst average for him in home conditions.
