Rishabh Pant became the protagonist of India’s five-wicket win over England in the third ODI at Old Trafford with a masterful 125 not out off 111 balls. It was his first century in white ball cricket and made him the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter to scored centuries in both Tests and ODIs in England.
He won the player of the match for his efforts, after which he could be seen in a video uploaded by the fan offering the champagne bottle he was awarded to Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach who is part of the Sky Sports commentary team for the series. Pant could be seen giving Shastri the bottle before laughing and gesturing towards the crowd.
England was bundled out for 259 thanks to brilliant spells from Hardik Pandya (4/24) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/60). Jos Buttler (60), Jason Roy (41) and Moeen Ali (34) played some crucial knocks for the hosts.
Chasing 260, Reece Topley destroyed India’s top order and had them at 72/4, but then Hardik Pandya and Pant stitched a match-winning stand of 133 runs. With this, Pant has joined the league of wicketkeeper-batters like Rahul Dravid and KL Rahul who have scored a century outside Asia in the ODI format.
After 20 overs Pandya and Pant took their side’s score beyond the 100-run mark under 21 overs with four wickets down. The duo shifted their gears and started playing an attacking game. All-rounder Pandya brought up his half-century in 43 balls in the 30th over of the match, following up on the four-wicket haul he took during England’s innings.