[Eddy]

Sam Curran is playing EXACTLY like the great MSD did in his prime. Brilliant to watch.

[pandey.jai]

Bit of a fluke win in the end with the run out in the last over.

[RavSam]

Originally Posted by pandey.jai

Bit of a fluke win in the end with the run out in the last over.

Why the fluke just for us? England were getting dropped, misfielded, wide deliveries and what not! It was more like WWE in the end than cricket.

[landcruiser123]

Just like Sanath Jayasuriya & Mark Greatbatch did in the 90s, English batsmen are revolutionizing ODI batting. England will be the first team to score 500 in an ODI; It may coincide with the first ODI double century by an English batsman.

Dare I say - India is still stuck in the 'traditional' mold of accumulating for 30-35 overs and then unleashing the attack.

[VWAllstar]

This was one of the best series in ODIs lately. Other teams need to really work harder if they wish to win against England and India in the ODIs WC.

My Best XI for the series:

S Dhawan
J Bairstow
V Kohli (c)
B Stokes
R Pant (wk)
H Pandya
S Curran
S Thakur
A Rashid
B Kumar
M Wood

[PPS]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Dare I say - India is still stuck in the 'traditional' mold of accumulating for 30-35 overs and then unleashing the attack.

The more they play England, the better they'll get I feel! Problem is they might go into their usual shell against other opponents.

[911CarerraS]

That was scary at the end
But I'm relieved we got off the line.
England are playing splendidly well and I think they deserve the no.1 spot but I hope we dethrone them soon!!!

[NPV]

Towards the closing stages, I somehow felt England deserved to and will win the match. India's fielding was pathetic at that stage dropping catches!

In the end, it was a lucky win for India and Sam Curran was just 1 or 2 hits short of taking them to an incredible win. Hardik's dropped catch of Sam Curran almost proved too costly.

If only Sam had trusted Wood to play a few balls it would have ended in a win for England becuase he ended up trying to monopolise the strike and insulate Mark Wood from facing the bowling, missing out on several singles which proved costly for them. I mean after all Wood wasn't a No.11 who needed that much protection.

[KPR]

Catches win matches. But for India in the concluded Eng and Aus series, dropped catches won us matches.

[mac187]

Cricket is a cruel game for bowlers. Bhuvi's spell was worth its weight in gold especially considering that almost 750 runs were scored in the finals. If he hadn't got the openers, out this match would have been finished much before time, just like the second ODI, there wouldn't have been the need for Sam's heroics (I agree he played a gem of the innings playing with the tail). He could have been be awarded man of the match atleast, if not the series.

Never thought I would say this, I am just not used to this kind of 50 over cricket.

[anandhsub]

I completely agree with what Kohli said ( and props to him for saying that given most captains don't) that Thakur should have been the MoM and Bhuvi the MoS. Makes 0 sense to give it to Curran when even Thakur's batting was more of a gamechanger let alone his 4 wickets.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by mac187

Never thought I would say this, I am just not used to this kind of 50 over cricket.

True, that's how the shorter formats have become now!
On any good pitch ("belter of a pitch" is the common phrase used), the standard template used is for team batting first to put on a big score of 325-350+ and with decent fielding and bowling, get the opposition all out or restrict them (tougher).

Obviously, the team winning the toss gets the advantage of chasing.

Few years ago, chasing big scores was considered difficult under the lights but that's completely changed now.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by mac187

He could have been be awarded man of the match atleast, if not the series.

Sam Curran was adjudged as the man of the match. Also, I suppose it was a typo that babout 650 runs were scored. . Not 750.

[pandey.jai]

Originally Posted by RavSam

Why the fluke just for us? England were getting dropped, misfielded, wide deliveries and what not! It was more like WWE in the end than cricket.

The less said about India’s fielding, the better. But then midfields happen. The run out was sheer luck (combined with some good fielding/throw)

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pandey.jai

The less said about India’s fielding, the better. But then midfields happen. The run out was sheer luck (combined with some good fielding/throw)

I don't see anything lucky with that run out, it was great work by Hardik and Pant.

Overall, yes we were lucky that despite crucial dropped catches we ended up on the winning side. And Curran's judgment (run out of Wood) and strategy in trying to singlehandedly win with boundaries and sixes alone also backfired. I'm sure there were more than 10 singles that he simply refused to take!