India pacer Mohammed Siraj on Thursday rattled England’s top order with two big knocks in the space of four balls in the third ODI in Manchester. Siraj, who replaced the injured Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian line-up, removed Jonny Bairstow, who tried to push it down the leg side but mistimed it to fielder Shreyas Iyer at mid-off. Siraj struck again at the same end, removing Joe Root for nothing on the last ball. 3rd ODI score by India vs England
In an attempt to block Siraj’s fiery delivery that formed a bit, Root bowled it to India captain Rohit Sharma at second slip. Siraj, who stayed on the line and length of the Test despite the change in format, had two opposition strikes in the space of just a few minutes.
Before the double strike, it was Virat Kohli’s valuable advice that seemed to work. Kohli was seen chatting with the player during the double over, which was only the second half of the match.
Apart from Siraj, Hardik Pandya also struck twice, reducing the hosts to 74 for four in 13.2 overs. The Baroda all-rounder bowled Jason Roy with a short ball and then dismissed Ben Stokes with a caught and bowled exception.
Roy (41) gave the ball a comfortable catch to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, while Stokes (27) bowled it back to Pandya.
Pandya went on to grab a career-best 4/24 as India bowled out England for 259. Captain Jos Buttler top-scored for England with an 80-ball 60, but it was Pandya’s fours that suffocated the team local.
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and elected to field in the deciding game of the series. “Looks like a good track, nice and tough,” Rohit said at the toss. “I don’t think it will change. We thought we would have a result in front of us.
“Our bowlers have come out with great weapons. Hopefully, we can do the same today. Bumrah has a back spasm. He misses out,” he added.
Hosts England were unchanged from the side that leveled the three-match series at 1-1. Reece Topley was the star with the ball, taking a record 6-24 at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’. India began the series with a 10-wicket landslide at the Oval, with Jasprit Bumrah returning brilliant figures of 6-19.
