Rohit Sharma 138 not enough as England clinch series 2-1 at Lord's

Brief Scores: England (387/3) beat India (360/7) by 27 runs in the Lord’s ODI to win the three-match ODI series 2-1

There are days when a man walks off to a standing ovation, head bowed, having done everything asked of him, and still ends up on the losing side. Sunday at Lord’s belonged, for long stretches, to Rohit Sharma. By the time the last ball had been bowled, though, it belonged to England.

India vs England, Lord’s ODI: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD

Chasing a monstrous 388, India were given hope by an opening stand of 147 between Rohit and Shubman Gill, and then kept alive by Rohit’s alliance with Virat Kohli. In the end, though, the gulf created during the first 30 overs of England’s innings proved too wide to bridge, and the hosts closed out a 27-run win to follow their 4-0 demolition in the T20Is with a 2-1 series victory in the 50-over format. For an India side that arrived in England as the No. 1-ranked ODI team in the world, it has been a chastening tour.

If this was to be the last time Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played together in England, then Lord’s provided a fitting stage. Those who packed the ground for the series decider watched two of India’s finest ODI batters show they still belong at the highest level.

Rohit scored a magnificent 138, his 34th ODI century, while Kohli chipped in with a fluent 74, his 133rd score of fifty or more in the format. Between them, they dragged India back into a chase that had seemed beyond reach. The only thing they could not deliver was victory.

That belonged, to England. The hosts piled up 387 for 3 after Ben Duckett’s career-best 141 and Jacob Bethell’s 91 laid the platform before Jos Buttler’s explosive 41 not out from just 13 balls lifted them to a daunting total. India responded with 360 for 7 despite Rohit’s 138, Gill’s 77 and Kohli’s 74, as England sealed a 2-1 series win, their first ODI series victory over India since 2018 and only their eighth in 22 bilateral contests.

With his back against the wall and an illustrious career under the spotlight, Rohit silenced the retirement rumours the only way he knows, with one of his most memorable ODI centuries. It was an innings worthy of winning a match. Instead, it became the defining performance in defeat.

DUCKETT, BETHELL LAY PLATFORM

The damage was done inside the first two-thirds of England’s innings. Ben Duckett scored a superb 141 and, alongside a rampaging Jacob Bethell, put on 192 for the first wicket as England raced to 387 for 3. It was carnage of the most clinical kind. The powerplay alone brought 58 runs and, between overs 11 and 30, the innings simply ran away from India’s attack.

Duckett peppered the boundary with eighteen fours and a six, while Bethell, fluent from the very first over, struck eleven fours and a maximum before eventually holing out to Prasidh Krishna. Bethell reached his half-century off just 51 deliveries and, by the time England crossed 100 in the 16th over, India had already leaked fifteen boundaries with their lines badly astray.

There was no respite even after the platform-builders departed. Joe Root, in the form of his life, made an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls, his third half-century in as many games on this tour, to drag the total past 350. Jos Buttler then blitzed 41 not out from just 13 deliveries, taking particular toll of Gurnoor Brar, who finished with figures of 0 for 97. Between them, England hit 42 boundaries and six sixes.

NO BUMRAH, NO MAGIC

India’s bowling had no answer, and a lot of that had to do with who wasn’t there. Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, ruled out with a knee issue, was a body blow India never really recovered from. Prasidh Krishna finished with 2 for 69 from his ten overs, Arshdeep Singh went for 72 without reward, Prince Yadav picked up one wicket but conceded 79, and Axar Patel, the lone spinner in the XI, went wicketless for 61. Between the four seamers there was barely fifty ODIs of collective experience, and it showed against a fearless batting line-up that never let them settle.

Young paceman Prince, still finding his feet with the Lord’s slope, was taken for a six over deep midwicket and then dispatched through the gap at mid-on inside his first spell. It set the tone. Arshdeep struggled for discipline with his lines, and even Prasidh, despite beating Bethell’s bat more than once, mixed his good deliveries with far too many loose ones. By the time the innings was done, it was clear this was one of those days when nothing came right for the bowlers at the same time.

ROHIT STANDS TALL

If the first innings had a lopsided quality to it, the chase had genuine drama. Rohit and Gill gave India exactly the start they needed, matching England stride for stride with a 147-run opening stand. Gill made a fluent 77 before falling, but Rohit kept going until he brought up a magnificent hundred, his first at Lord’s, silencing every question that had been asked of his form on this tour. With speculation around the selectors’ long-term plans and the head coach ready to move on from him, the 39-year-old former skipper walked into the series decider under enormous pressure.

Rohit walked onto the hallowed turf of Lord’s with a dual target: winning a series for India and protecting a legacy that had come under increasing scrutiny. He did not raise his bat after completing his 34th ODI hundred, the first by an Indian batter at Lord’s. Nor did he acknowledge the standing ovation from the Members’ Balcony after a 110-ball knock stitched with heart, hurt, and sweat.

For Rohit, there were 17 boundaries and five sixes, three of them off Josh Tongue, including a pull, one straight down the ground and one over long-on. He also pulled Sam Curran into the stands, but the left-arm seamer had the final say. Rohit and Kohli added 113 for the third wicket and, for long periods, it looked as though India might pull off the impossible. Kohli played one of his most assured knocks of the series, his 74 standing as his highest international score at Lord’s.

But cricket has a habit of turning on a single ball, and this game turned on Jacob Bethell’s. Introduced as what looked like little more than a change of pace, Bethell produced the spell of his life, conceding just 49 runs in seven overs after the 30th over. Inside that spell came the wicket that mattered most, Rohit for 138. It broke a partnership that had threatened to snatch the game away from England and changed the complexion of the chase.

From there, Bethell and Sam Curran throttled the game shut. Mixing their pace intelligently and refusing to offer India anything loose, the pair choked the flow of runs when India desperately needed momentum. Curran removed Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Kohli in the space of seven deliveries to end India’s hopes.

Even with the game gone, India refused to go quietly. Jofra Archer found the edge of Arshdeep Singh’s bat, but Jos Buttler could not hold on. Adil Rashid kept his composure in the final over before Gurnoor Brar struck a six and a four to narrow the margin, though the result had long been beyond doubt.

This became the first ODI in which all four opening batters scored 75 or more. Even so, Duckett’s 141 edged Rohit’s 138 as the highest score of the day, fitting perhaps for a match England controlled from the first ball to the last, even as India refused to let go until the very end.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Beyond the scorecard, there was a heavier significance to the afternoon. If this does turn out to be the last time we see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli batting together, at Lord’s, in England or anywhere in the world, then it was a fitting stage on which to bow out. Two old campaigners stood tall long after many had written them off, dragging a chase back from the brink before falling agonisingly short.

For India, the questions from this tour run deep, about the bowling attack’s over-reliance on one bowler, squad balance and the road ahead. But none of those questions have anything to do with the form of Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli, both of whom leave English shores with their reputations, if anything, enhanced.

For England, under Harry Brook, the job is well and truly done. A 4-0 sweep in the T20Is followed by a 2-1 ODI series win over the No. 1-ranked side in the world, sealed in front of a Lord’s crowd that came, saw and left convinced.

– Ends