England produced a batting masterclass at Lord's Cricket Ground and took a mammoth 387/3 in the third and final ODI against India. The hosts won the toss and went for the first shot, and they took full advantage of the batsman-friendly conditions and had the highest total in ODI history at Lord's, putting India under pressure in a must-watch match.
The foundation of England’s huge score was laid by openers Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, who dominated the Indian bowling attack from the start. A 192-run opening partnership saw the visitors scratching their heads at the start of the first half of the innings.
Bethell was a good supporting player and just missed out on a century. The young batter scored 91 runs off 93 balls with 11 boundaries and two sixes. His aggressive yet disciplined approach kept England producing enough to keep the pressure on India.
But Bethell impressed; Ben Duckett took the spotlight with a masterful century. The left-hander looked in complete control and struck everything out of the Indian bowler’s hands. Duckett reached his hundred, and then he went on to hit 141 runs in 135 deliveries, with 18 fours and one six. He was the perfect combination of patience with timing and aggression, and it was one of the best innings at Lord’s in recent years.
Duckett found a reliable partner in Joe Root after Bethell’s dismissal. The experienced batsman anchored the innings well as Duckett was able to play his natural attacking game. Together they added 101 runs for the second wicket in 80 balls to further cement England’s lead.
Root continued his excellent form as he achieved a half-century, and as a result, he was able to keep it going and had another half-century. His calm presence on the ground meant that there was no loss of momentum despite the loss of wickets. England captain Harry Brook, however, failed to make much of an impact and was dismissed for 14 runs from 12 deliveries.
The final overs were all about Jos Buttler, as he once again proved why he is one of the most destructive white-ball batters in world cricket. Buttler came in at the end of the game and attacked the Indian bowling attack as he scored 41 runs in only 13 balls, and England ended up with 387/3 from 50 overs.
India’s bowling performance was one to forget. Other than Prasidh Krishna, none of the bowlers were able to consistently trouble the English batters. England was able to build partnerships throughout the innings with no breakthroughs and was unable to contain runs.
Prasidh Krishna was India’s most successful bowler, taking two wickets and conceding 69 runs in a 10-over spell. Prince Yadav was also able to make an impact; however, the rest of the attack wasn’t performing very well.
Arshdeep Singh had a hard time and conceded 72 runs in his 10 overs. Gurnoor Brar had a particularly difficult day and ended up with 0/97 from his 10 overs, making him the most expensive bowler of the innings. Spinner Axar Patel was relatively economical and conceded 61 runs in his whole quota while briefly slowing England’s scoring rate during the middle overs.
With 388 runs to chase, India now has a huge challenge at Lord’s. England’s record-breaking batting performance has put them in a position to control the match, and the visitors will need to perform very well to get one of the highest successful run chases in ODI history.
