Pant lead from the front with a maiden ODI hundred to lead India to the series at Manchester, scoring 125 off 113 balls. Hardik Pandya once again showcased his skills as an all-rounder. He played a crucial inning of 71 runs off 55 balls when India needed the most and took 4 wickets conceding 24 runs in 7 overs (including 3 maiden overs).

India won the toss and decided to bowl, a little surprising decision from Rohit Sharma. Rohit went against the odds, eight out of the last nine games were won by the team batting first, maybe he was thinking off to utilize the conditions. India comes in with a change, Mohammed Siraj was in for Jaspreet Bumrah, who rested for an injury and Siraj opened the bowling with Shammi.

Shammi expected some assistance from the pitch and started with a full-length delivery to Jason Roy. He pushes to mid-off, a boundary to start with, what a start for England and Jason Roy. Another in-swinger from Shammi and a little punch on to square leg boundary, two in two for Jason Roy, and he managed to score one more boundary in the over. Eventful first over, Shammi bowls all full-length deliveries and England easily scores 12 runs.

But the second over was more eventful than the first, Siraj started with two dot balls to Jonny Bairstow. A full delivery around off and middle, Bairstow hits in the air and straight to mid-on, an easy catch for the substitute Sreyas Iyer. Bairstow goes for a duck and Siraj takes the first wicket for India. Joe Root is in and Siraj welcomes him with two good deliveries. Siraj hasn’t done it yet, bowls between good length and full, Root plays for the angle but the ball swings away taking the edge, goes straight to second slip, and Rohit Sharma takes it with both hands.

Both Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root go for a duck, many of the England top order getting out for a duck in this ODI series, six were out for a duck so far. The second wicket of the over for Siraj and England is 12/2 in two overs.

Ben Stokes goes aggressive, with a little bit of punch towards cover for a boundary against Siraj. Another boundary from Siraj’s over bowls fullish on middle and leg, Stokes flicks to leg side, an acrobatic effort from Chahal but can’t pull off the diving catch. Boundaries and wickets, everything happens in the middle.

At the end of the 6^th over England was 38/2, Stokes 13 (15), and Roy 24 (15). Stokes and Roy change the gear and the boundaries started to flow for England, it was looking like an excellent batting pitch when these two were batting. Shammi was very expensive, conceding 33 runs in his first four overs, six of the nine boundaries scored so far are from Shammi. Seven overs were gone and England was 49/2.

Soon England passed the 50 mark in the 8^th over, Stokes and Roy building the innings for England after the initial blow, the partnership reads 37 from 31 balls. Another short ball from Siraj and Roy pulled way that to leg side boundary. Indian bowlers weren’t able to bowl effective short deliveries against Jason Roy yet, he capitalized on the bowlers whenever he got an opportunity.

Rohit brings in another bowling change, Prasidh Krishna into the attack in the 9^th over. Runs continue to flow for England, Jason Roy chips one in the air for a boundary and brings the 50 partnership between Roy and Stokes. Seven runs were scored in the over and the score was 66/2 after the 9^th over. Another bowling change from Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya comes to bowl the 10th over. Rohit could have tried Chahal at this time as Stokes and Roy counter-attacking at the moment. How these batsmen treat spin on this track, if they continue attacking, then there is a chance for another wicket.  Roy continues attacking, four cracking shots against Hardik Pandya, but all went straight to the fielders. No runs scored in the over so although he middled all the four deliveries. Roy continued attacking the 5th ball and top edges it. The ball goes high in the air and Rishabh Pant takes an easy catch. Jason Roy played well for 41 from 31 balls and a partnership of 54 runs from 47 balls with Ben Stokes. Maiden over, a wicket for Hardik Pandya, and an excellent bowling change from the captain Rohit Sharma.

Jos Butler joins Ben Stokes. India making it tight this time and just one run from Prasidh Krishna in the 11^th over, two good back-to-back overs from India. Hardik Pandya continues and he was right on the money, perfect length, perfect line, reads the conditions quickly, reads the batsmen quickly as well. Two good bowlers bowling in tandem, Hardik Pandya picked up a wicket and Prasidh Krishna supported him from the other end. After 13 overs England’s score was 74/3, scoring at a pace of 5.69 per over, the run rate had been brought down after the wicket of Jason Roy.

Hardik saw Ben Stokes coming down the track and he goes with a short ball just outside the leg stump. That’s beautifully bowled and well taken, Ben Stokes gone for 27 (29) and England 74/4. Ben Stokes tries to make some room and tries to flick it at his throat level, only to top edge it. Another maiden over and a wicket for Hardik Pandya. Four English top-order batsmen are back to the pavilion after the end of the 14^th over and the England score was reading 74/4.

Jos Butler is in defensive mode and there weren’t many scoring shots from him so far. He timed one perfectly playing in the front foot for a boundary through cover, some relief for Jos Butler. One ball after, Butler chips one to cover off Prasidh Krishna and falls short of the substitute Axar Patel. England’s scoring rate has considerably reduced as Hardik Pandya continued bowling another maiden over. Three maiden overs of the total of four overs bowled picking up two wickets by conceding just two runs. Hardik Pandya is at his best.

Two bowling changes from the captain Rohit Sharma, Chahal, and Siraj come in. Chahal finishes the over decently with just conceding two runs. Siraj bowled a short ball at 85 mph and hits Jos Butler on the helmet. The concussion rule kicks in and the medical staff comes onto the field to check on him. Siraj hits Jos Butler again on the helmet for the second time in the over and the medical staff comes again to the field. Jos Butler is having a tough time out there in the middle, however, he builds a patient partnership of 12 runs of 34 balls with Moeen Ali. The run rate was reduced to 4.52 and England is 86/4 after 19 overs.

Chahal continues from the other end, a tossed-up delivery to Jos Butler, who smashes it for a six through wide ling-on. Butler steals two other doubles by playing Chahal onto the leg side, which turned out to be a good over for England. Butler moves on to 29 off 40 balls after 22 overs and the partnership has reached 33 runs off 52 balls. Moeen Ali takes on Siraj this time as he scores two boundaries and a six and moves onto 21 runs from 31 balls. Siraj concedes 16 runs off the over. England was 131/4 at the halfway mark after 25 overs, Jos Butler scoring 32 of 49 and Moeen Ali 24 of 35.

Chahal continued, both Moeen Ali and Jos Butler hit a six each in the over, tough times for Chahal. Butler through long-on and Moeen Ali through wide long-on and Chahal conceded 16 runs in the over. Two good overs for England helped to increase the run rate to 5.65 after 26 overs. A  good partnership between Jos Butler and Moeen Ali was taking England to a good total and Rohit Sharma and India were looking to pick up a wicket. Rohit brings Ravindra Jadeja into the attack in the 28^th over of the game and he does what his captain is wanting him to do. Moeen Ali went for the sweep shot, the extra bounce takes the edge of the bat, and an excellent grab by Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. Moeen Ali couldn’t believe, the partnership of 75 from 84 balls have been broken and England was 149/5.

The local boy Liam Livingstone is in. Jos Butler completed the fifty by scoring a single against Jadeja in the 32^nd over, a captain’s innings played when the team was looking up to him. There is always an action when Livingstone and Hardika Pandya come against each other. Pandya bowls a short ball and Livingstone goes for the pull and misses it. Pandya bowls it short again, this time Livingstone connects it and smashes it behind the square for a six. Pandya didn’t stop, he attacks with the short balls again, five short balls in the over and the last one hit Livingstone on the helmet.

Butler and Livingstone complete the fifty-run partnership in the 37^th over, the second consecutive 50+ for England. Pandya didn’t change his tactics, again targeting Livingstone with a short ball and Livingstone continue to pull the short balls, second six against Pandya. Did Pandya change his line and length, no, he bowls it short again, did Livingstone change his shot selection, no, he pulls it again toward the deep backward square leg. But the result is different this time, India’s best fielder Ravindra Jadeja takes an easy catch and Livingstone falls for the trap. Third wicket for Pandya and he has the last laugh. He was expecting at some point Livingstone will miss the timing on that shot and Jadeja was waiting for that mistake in the deep.

From India’s point of view, this was a dangerous partnership in making and that was broken at the right time. Pandya’s sensational over hasn’t finished yet, Jos Butler was at the strike this time, and Pandya didn’t change his tactic and continued with another short ball. Jadeja has done it again, he runs, slides, and takes a beauty. Pandya takes the second wicket in the over and fourth in the match. England has lost two set batsmen and these two wickets will be costly for England to set up a winning total on this track. England is 199/7 after 37 overs.

India was looking to clean up the English tail quickly, but poor bowling from Prasidh and Siraj went for runs. Prasidh Krishna bowled a no-ball and Overton has the opportunity for the free hit and he scores a boundary. Willey smashed a six in the fifth ball of the same over. Prasidh Krishna conceded 12 runs and Siraj has given 9 runs in the 41^st and 42^nd overs. English tail batsmen were playing beyond India’s expectations and this partnership was becoming dangerous for India on this track.

Rohit brings back Chahal in the hopes of taking a wicket and Chahal does exactly what India wanted. Willey slogs one in the air and an easy catch Surya Kumar Yadav, England is 247/8. Willey and Overton added 48 runs off 41 balls for the eighth wicket bringing England to a decent score after losing Jos Butler and Liam Livingstone in the same over. Chahal finished the formalities for India and he cleaned up the English tail by picking three quick wickets. England is all out for 259 in 45.5 overs. Rohit Sharma was superb with his executions, spot on with the bowling changes, used Hardik Pandya to fire up the short balls against Livingstone, and finally brought in Chahal to bowl out England in 45.5 overs.

The momentum was with India during the innings break as they restricted England to under 300 runs. The only thing that India has to do is to keep the wickets in hand bat throughout the 50 overs to win this match and the series. Taking the wickets at regular intervals is the only option for England like what they did at Lord’s in the previous game. Topley swinging back to Rohit’s pads is what England is looking to start with, in the second innings.

Rohit started in style, flicking Topley for a boundary through mid-wicket, followed by a cover drive and a glance to the point, of Willey scoring two boundaries in the over. But Topley strikes in the next over, and Shikhar Dhawan slices a full-length ball outside off stump straight to Jason Roy at the point. Top class bowling from Topley, a maiden, and a wicket. India was 13/1, not the start that India was looking for.

Topley continues with his form and produces an angle away from Rohit who falls for it. Rohit wanted to feel the bat on the ball, a simple catch to Root at first slip, wonderful bowling from Topley. India is 21/2 and is in trouble, both the openers are back in the pavilion.