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Rishabh Pant once again rose to the occasion with his sensational maiden ODI hundred which was well coupled with a brilliant all-round show by Hardik Pandya as India bulldoze England by five wickets to claim the three-match series 2-1 at the Old Trafford on Sunday.
This win became even more special for the Men in Blue because India thrashed England in Manchester after a long wait of 39 years in ODIs.
Chasing a target of 260 runs, Pant hammered an unbeaten knock of 125 runs off 113 balls, which also turned out to be his maiden ODI ton. Pandya was also in top batting form and hammered a battling knock of 71 runs off 55 balls as the visitors reached 261/5 in 42.1 overs, winning by five wickets. Reece Topley was in good form for England and took three wickets.
Meanwhile, in the post match presentation, The 'Player of the Match' Pant said that he will remember his first ODI century for the rest of his life.
'Hopefully I will remember my first ODI century for the rest of my life. But when I was in there, I was just focusing on one ball at a time. (Coming in at 25 for 2) When a team is under pressure and you bat like that, that's what you aspire to do. (Quick end to the chase) I enjoy playing in England and will do whatever I can do to keep enjoying my cricket. The more cricket you play, the more experience you get. (Bowling) It was the best pitch to bat on, so credit to our bowlers for keeping them to 260. Not only this game, they have bowled well through the series. Not only this series either, they have been excellent all year," Pant said.
Skipper Jos Buttler top-scored for England with an 80-ball 60, but it was the flamboyant all-rounder from Gujarat, who dominated the first half of the match with his excellent bowling, sending out a warning to the opponents in the year of the T20 World Cup.
In the company of Hardik, Pant then showed his extraordinary skills with the bat as he smashed 16 fours and two sixes in his sublime knock at Old Trafford.
This was after lanky seamer Reece Topley (3/35) again proved to be the wrecker-in-chief by removing the trio of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in quick succession.
Dhawan's subdued run in the series continued as he fell for one while Rohit (17) reached out to a delivery that was angling away only to nick it to Joe Root at first slip.
Kohli edged one to Buttler after Topley bowled a ball that angled across.
As has often been the case with him in recent times, Kohli looked good until he was in the middle, but one small mistake and the maestro was walking back shaking his head.
