3rd ODI: Pant, Pandya Help India Score 329 In First Innings

Rishabh Pant's 78 and Hardik Pandya's power-packed 64 helped India reach 329 against England in the 3rd ODI here at Pune. 

After being put in to bat first, India started well. The Indian openers looked aggressive from ball one and scored 65 in the first 10 overs without losing any wicket. 

Shikhar Dhawan was the aggressor and scored his second half-century of the series. Rohit Sharma scored a run-a-ball 37 before getting bowled off a googly by Adil Rashid, who also got Shikhar Dhawan in his next over for 67. 

India was cruising for 103 inside 15 overs without losing any wicket but then got reduced to 121-3, losing the three top-order batsmen and then to 157-4 after KL Rahul mistimed a sweep. 

 

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya then smashed 99 runs for the fifth wicket in just 73 to keep India's hopes for 330 plus score intact after a brief setback. 

Pant hit his second half-century of the series and got out after scoring 78 from 62 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes. Pandya, too, accelerated his way to the first fifty of the series and looked set to give a perfect finish along with his older brother. He, though, got out on 64 in the 39th over giving India another setback. 

Krunal Pandya and Shardul Thakur took the game further with their 45 run stand. Thakur hit three sixes to get India past the 300-run mark as Pandya struggled to time the ball. India lost their last four wickets for eight runs and got bowled for 329. 

For England, Mark Wood took three wickets in seven overs. He was struggling throughout the match with dehydration and went off the field for a while as well. 

Brief Score: 

India - 329/10 in 48.4 overs (Rishabh Pant - 78; Shikhar Dhawan - 67; Mark Wood - 3/34)