Rishabh Pant scored an unbeaten 125 off 113 balls in the third ODI vs England at the Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester on Sunday. The wicketkeeper-batter and Hardik Pandya (71) stitched a 100-plus stand to help India win by five wickets.
Rohit Sharma and co sealed the three-match ODI series 2-1.
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Chasing 260 runs, India were reduced to 21/2 when Rishabh Pant came out to bat. Reece Topley soon picked his third wicket – Virat Kohli (17)- and the scorecard read 38/4. Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for cheap too.
While wickets kept falling at the other end, Pant kept taking regular blows at the English bowlers. He brought up his half-century in 71 balls. The 24-year-old then scored the next 50 runs in 34 deliveries. He smashed 16 fours and two sixes in his sublime knock at Old Trafford.
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Pant and Hardik then stabilised the innings by mixing caution with aggression. With a wide array of strokes at their disposal, both went about their task in a professional manner, rarely looking in any sort of discomfort.
Hardik got out to a magnificent catch by Ben Stokes, but a flurry of boundaries by Pant meant India had it easy in the end.
Talking about the knock, player of the match Pant said, “Hopefully I remember it for the rest of my life. I was focusing on one ball at a time when I was batting.”
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The star Indian player further revealed what he aspires to do.
“When your team is under pressure and you bat like that .. something I aspire to do. I always enjoy playing in England, at the same time enjoy the atmosphere and the situation. The more you play the more experience you gain. Nothing to take away from the bowlers, it was a good wicket to bat on and the bowlers did a commendable job to restrict them, they were brilliant not only today but for the entire series.”