Root, Morgan put an end to India's ODI dominance

England won the toss and decided to put India into bat in the series-deciding third ODI at Headingley.

The ODI series which started positively ended on the wrong note for India with uncomfortable question marks dangling in front of each of the three departments of batting, bowling and fielding as another disappointing performance led to England winning the final ODI at Headingley by eight wickets and with that capturing the series 2-1.

This defeat ended Kohli's streak of nine consecutive ODI series and extended England's streak to seven.

After a flop-show with the bat, India’s graph dipped further in trying to defend 256. The desperate attempt to resurrect the pace department by bringing in a half-fit Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur fell face first.  It’s hard to understand the axing of KL Rahul and the selection of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It was even more baffling when India didn’t want to risk Kumar before the Test series. His gingerly run-up, an even more lethargic release indicated that he will take at least a week more to get his back functioning properly.

England got off to a flier with Johnny Bairstow picking up boundaries like plucking apples from a garden. Bairstow hit Kumar for four fours in his second over and followed it up with a couple more from Pandya’s next, prompting Kohli to make his first change after four overs. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Bairstow got carried away and ended up providing a simple catch to Raina at short mid-wicket for a 30-run cameo off 13 balls.

Vince followed soon after thanks to a moment of brilliance by MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya. But unfortunately for India that was the only bit of action that Kohli would like to remember, the rest of the Indian fielding was nothing short of a nightmare.

Much was expected from the wrist spinners but they had a rare off day. Kuldeep Yadav dished out full tosses and was repeatedly swept by Root and when the overcompensated, he was pulled or cut by Morgan.

England’s two most experienced ODI batsmen – Root and Morgan – then did something which was missing in India’s innings – a solid partnership. The duo put together an unbroken third-wicket stand of 183.

Root warmed up nicely for the Test series with consecutive hundreds. Morgan, who was far from his best in the ODI series, scored a flawless 88. England knocked off the target in 44.3 overs.

India innings

India’s fears about their middle order gained momentum as it once again failed to score in the middle overs losing wickets to spinners and leaving India with a score of 256 for 8 in the series-deciding final ODI against England at Headingley. Captain Virat Kohli top scored with 71.

Kohli scored 71 off 72 balls, inclusive of eight fours, but the Indian innings faltered in face of some quality spin bowling by Adil Rashid, who snapped 3 for 49 to hurt the middle order.

Kohli forged a 71-run partnership for the second wicket with Shikhar Dhawan (44) but after the duo was dismissed under-fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored 42 off 66 balls to shepherd the innings in the latter half.

Put into bat, India got off to a poor start as England pacers Mark Wood (1-30) and David Willey (3-40) moved the new balls around under heavy cloud cover with opener Rohit Sharma, in particular, struggling to put bat to ball.

The Mumbaikar scored 2 off 18 balls before holing out to square leg in an effort to break the shackles.

At 13/1 in the sixth over, Kohli joined Shikhar Dhawan (44) and the duo batted with renewed intent.

Together they put on 71 runs off 72 balls and dug India out of the deep hole. Dhawan broke free with three successive boundaries, while Kohli looked up for it, this being the series' deciding contest.

Their 50-partnership came off only 53 balls. However, just when they were setting up a base for India, Dhawan was run out by Ben Stokes, who broke the stumps with a direct throw after finding the opener short of the crease in the 18th over.

Dinesh Karthik (21) became India's newest number four batsman and chugged along nicely. Scoring almost run-a-ball, he helped India cross 100 in the 20th over and put on 41 runs with Kohli for the third wicket.

That budding partnership was broken when Karthik played on off Rashid in the 25th over. It marked the onset of spin influence on this game, and six overs later came the big moment.

Kohli played for a regular leg break, only the ball ripped off the surface and took his off-stump. The Indian skipper, who had reached his 48th ODI half-century off 55 balls, looked stunned at the turn Rashid generated.

It was the first time in 203 ODI innings that Kohli was dismissed by a leg spinner, who made it two wickets in six balls as Suresh Raina (1) was caught at leg slip.

The left-hander seemed to be giving catching practice as India slumped to 158 for 5.

Dhoni, who had walked to the crease with loud cheers from the Headingley crowd, put on 36 runs with Hardik Pandya (21) in a bid to rebuild the innings. The duo batted with caution, as they were the last recognized pair.

But just when they looked set to launch an offensive in the last 10 overs, Pandya was caught behind off Wood.

Dhoni pushed India past 200 in the 42nd over and put on 27 runs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (21), as the English pacers kept a tight leash on the run-rate.

Dhoni was caught behind in the 46th over, and it seemed that India will fall short of 250. But Shardul Thakur's 22-run blitz off 13 balls including two sixes brought the visitors to a defendable total on a track that is starting to take ample turn.

Toss report

England won the toss and decided to put India into bat in the series-deciding third ODI at Headingley.

With the series locked 1-1, both the teams have decided to field their best possible XI. India have made three changes to their playing XI. Dinesh Karthik has come in place of KL Rahul and will bat at No.4, increasing the number of batsmen tried in that position in the last 12 months to 8.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar passed the fitness test and he comes in place of Umesh Yadav and Siddharth Kaul has made way for Shardul Thakur.

Indian captain Virat Kohli stated that the decision to include Karthik was a tactical one.

“Rahul misses out for Karthik. Dinesh was a tactical change and the other two because they haven't got a game yet.”

England, on the other hand, were forced to make one change. Jason Roy, who suffered an injury on the eve of the final ODI has been replaced by Hampshire batsman James Vince.

“I think it's a really good wicket, the wickets here have always been good throughout 100 overs in Headingley, so it should be the same today. Very rarely do we get occasions like this, it's as close we get to any later stage of a tournament and against a side like India it'll be a real test. It's important to prepare in a similar way and I recognize the opportunity that has been created and hopefully capitalize on that,” said England captain Eoin Morgan.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal

England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, James Vince, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood