England vs India 2018: Adil Rashid's double-wicket over is SK Turning Point of 3rd ODI
When all eyes were on India's prodigious chinaman expert, an unassuming leg-spinner managed to tilt the scales in England's favour during the crucial third ODI at Headingley. On a surface showing considerable assistance, Adil Rashid ripped the heart out of India's middle-order and propelled the hosts to a series-clinching victory.
Having won another handy toss, England skipper Eoin Morgan produced his second brave call in as many matches. Akin to the preceding encounter at Lord's, the southpaw's astuteness in reading the conditions turned out to be instrumental to his team's cause.
With a hint of cloud cover, the new-ball pairing of Mark Wood and David Willey placed the Indian top-order under enormous pressure. They dried up the runs and coerced Rohit Sharma into attempting an abominable shot. At the end of the first ten overs, the visitors found themselves at a precarious position of 32/1.
Kohli shows class on sluggish surface
The introduction of Liam Plunkett allowed Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli to finally break the shackles. The left-hander imposed himself on the hit-the-deck pacer by hammering three successive boundaries.
Meanwhile, Kohli showed his resourcefulness against Ben Stokes. With the all-rounder erroneously resorting to the shorter length on such as sluggish track, the Indian captain capitalized. When things seemed to be going well for the tourists, Dhawan departed due to a catastrophic and needless run-out.
Despite being involved in Dhawan's dismissal, Kohli did not let his shoulders drop. He made Plunkett pay for spilling the lengths all over the place. Unbeknownst to the Indian batsmen, Rashid was slowly getting into the groove at the other end.
Rashid rips through India's middle-order
After conceding nine runs from the opening over of his spell, Rashid tied Kohli and Dinesh Karthik by smartly varying his lengths as well as pace. The latter's vigorous approach resulted in his own downfall as he dragged a well-flighted delivery on to his stumps.
With India in a spot of bother, MS Dhoni joined Kohli at the crease. The pitch was starting to take sharp turn and the onus fell on two of India's greatest ever ODI batsmen. They managed to keep the leg-spinner at bay until he responded by producing a truly unplayable delivery.
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Rashid began the 31st over of the match by delivering the ball of the series. Kohli played back to a delivery which pitched on leg-stump and spun viciously to thud into the off-stump. Even as the wrist-spinner celebrated a prized scalp, the Indian skipper could only have a look of bewilderment on his face.
When Raina arrived in the middle, Morgan immediately brought a leg-slip into place. The left-hander played into England's hands by playing with the spin. Joe Root duly snaffled a low catch. In the space of six balls, Rashid had reduced India from 156/3 to 158/5.
England cruise to series triumph
After removing the bulk of India's batting lineup, England assumed control of the proceedings. Aside from an interesting cameo of Shardul Thakur towards the end of the innings, they never relinquished their stronghold.
Dhoni's laborious 42, as well as some lower-order cameos, propped up India's total. A target of 257 on a turning track could have made for some fascinating proposition. However, Jonny Bairstow launched a furious assault on the Indian seamers and ensured that those batting below him had the luxury of a comfortable required run-rate.
England's Test and limited-overs captains combined brilliantly to guide them to a clinical victory. While Joe Root reached his second century of the series, Morgan finished with a 108-ball 88. The eight-wicket romp enabled the hosts to steal the series 2-1 and head into the Tests with renewed confidence. As for India, the consecutive ODI defeats brutally exposed the brittleness of their middle-order.