England’s miserable white-ball tour rounded off with a 142-run drubbing by India in the third one-day international in Ahmedabad, securing a 3-0 series sweep for the hosts.
It was a familiar story for the tourists as India’s powerful batting line-up again piled on the runs – this time when posting a target of 357 – before a bright start by England made way to yet another middle-order collapse.
Tom Banton’s dismissal to end the 18th over – England reasonably well placed on 126-2 at the time – was the first of six wickets for 49 runs as Jos Buttler’s side ultimately subsided to 214 all out in the 35th over.
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Jos Buttler tells The Sky Sports Cricket Podcast about what it means to be England captain and how he is looking to ‘really enjoy these last few years’
Live ICC Champions Trophy Cricket
Wednesday 19th February 8:30am
A seventh loss in eight from the tour – India’s ODI whitewash following a 4-1 hammering in the T20s – is far from ideal preparation for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which starts on Wednesday February 19, the entire tournament live on Sky Sports.
England’s first game is against reigning 50-over World Cup winners Australia on Saturday February 22.
Live ICC Champions Trophy Cricket
Saturday 22nd February 8:30am
Sparkling Gill century sets England sizeable chase
Buttler gave nod to those Champions Trophy preparations as his reasoning behind bowling first (for the first time in the series) when winning the toss, and it looked like the right call as Mark Wood (2-45) dismissed India skipper, and second ODI centurion, Rohit Sharma (1) with the first ball of the second over.
There was considerable movement on offer to the seamers early in the innings, which Wood made the most of immediately as he got one to nip away off the seam and draw the edge through to Phil Salt.
Shubman Gill celebrates his seventh ODI century as India piled on the runs in Ahmedabad
England couldn’t capitalise on the breakthrough, however, with Shubman Gill (112) and Virat Kohli (52) delivering a considerable counter-punch as they put 116 on for the second wicket.
Adil Rashid (4-64) ended their stand with a beauty of a leg break that Kohli could only feather behind shortly after bringing up a run-a-ball half-century.
Gill simply and swiftly found another great foil in Shreyas Iyer, the pair sharing in another century stand as the former brought up a magnificent seventh ODI hundred – following on from fifties in the first two matches – and Shreyas notched a 20th half century of his own.
England spinner Adil Rashid celebrates one of his four wickets for the innings
Rashid continued to operate in his role as one of the few bright sparks of England’s tour, tending this stand too by bowling Gill when on the sweep, adding Shreyas caught down the legside soon after and ending his spell with a ripper to Hardik Pandya (17) that knocked back the top of off.
It was part of a strong England rally at the back-end of the Indian innings, the visitors doing well to limit the damage to just 67 scored off the final nine overs after that Hardik dismissal, the home side ultimately bowled out for 356 off the final ball.
England fail again to make most of strong start
It looked a daunting chase, but an increasingly achievable one as Salt (23 off 21 balls) and Ben Duckett (34 off 22) – despite being limited by a groin injury picked up in the field – got England’s chase off to a rollocking start, with 60 struck from the first six overs.
Ben Duckett smashed 34 off 22 balls as England smashed 60 off the first six overs of their chase
The pair would both fall in rather tame fashion in the end though, both outdone by well-disguised slower balls from left-armer Arshdeep Singh (2-33).
Banton, batting at No 3 in his first ODI cap since August 2020, produced one or two eye-catching shots – as well as the odd scary bit of running – in his 41-ball 38, but his dismissal to Kuldeep Yadav was the trigger for England’s latest middle-order meltdown.
Joe Root (24) was bowled by Axar Patel (2-22) soon after, with Buttler (6) and Harry Brook (19) the next to go, in consecutive Harshit Rana (2-31) overs – both inside-edging deliveries from the Indian quick back onto their stumps.
No other England batter managed to reach double figures, with the notable exception of Gus Atkinson (38 off 19), who thrashed a few to the boundary in an enterprising late cameo before Hardik (2-38) ended his fun, the innings, and the series with the most emphatic of victories for India.
Buttler: England have been outplayed
England captain Jos Buttler at the post-match presentation:
“The game followed a similar pattern to the whole tour, to be honest. We threatened in stages but have been outplayed by a fantastic team.
“The style we want to execute is the right one. We just haven’t been able to do that well enough. That is the obvious learning.”
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Buttler joined the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, the England white-ball captain giving reasons to be excited for the team’s future
‘Have your days off in England!’ – KP’s scathing rant
Former England batter Kevin Pietersen, speaking on TNT Sports:
“You have a major tournament coming up in the Champions Trophy, and from what we have heard, one batter has had a net in the last week or two: Root, the one batter who probably doesn’t need one!
“Banton arrived two days ago from the UAE, and he was on the golf course yesterday, he wasn’t batting.
Tom Banton (R) arrived as an injury replacement for Jacob Bethell during the series
“Where have the issues come? 60-1, 80-2, and then what happens? None of them can play spin. And how do you improve playing spin?
“I was in the nets hitting thousands of balls, trying to make improvements here in the subcontinent. Have your days off in England!
“India have outperformed and outclassed England. They have been the only team who have turned up in this series.
“England will be bitterly disappointed but they have only got themselves to blame. The margin of defeat got bigger and bigger. Thinking caps need to go on very quickly. If you don’t practise, you don’t improve.”
Have England done too little in the nets?
Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, speaking on TNT Sports:
“It’s easy to sit here and say England should be in the nets working hard and ‘what is this golf rubbish!’
“I am sure there will be people at home frustrated at England losing time and time again, but we have to be balanced because when you are losing you can’t take all the fun away.
“That said, a young team building for the Champions Trophy should be in the nets, working on their game, trying to improve.
“You have to give yourself the best chance to perform.
“You would expect the younger guys to make the choice to get the extra nets in and work with McCullum who scored runs in the subcontinent.
“Sometimes you have to make that choice. It is those hard yards that earn you the right to have your day out.”
England in India results 🏏
Watch every match from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy live on Sky Sports between February 19 and March 9 or stream with NOW.
