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TimesofIndia.com in London: Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett took it easy on a warm, pleasant and sunny morning at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday. After winning the toss, the duo started slowly but picked up the pace as the day wore on in the third ODI against India. Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna took over the new ball duties with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable due to an impact injury to his left knee during the second ODI. Reactive swelling in his left knee put India’s premiership seamer on the sidelines, with Arshdeep taking his place in the deciding series.Krishna filled the gaps with double maiden overs as he found his line, length and extra bounce. A streak of 20 balls defines the 30-year-old’s day. Unfortunately, with Bumrah not there to help the effort at the other end, and nobody contributing anywhere near what ‘Boom’ offers, the struggle to find a pass or apply pressure by stemming the flow of runs continued.Prince Yadav, who came on as a replacement for the injury-hit Washington Sundar, playing just his third ODI, opened with 11 runs, including a massive wide that eluded wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan’s desperate dive.If the calm bowling wasn’t enough, the overs went further in England’s hands. India gifted 26 extras, including 16 wides and nine free-legs.“That pretty much sums up India’s bowling and the day so far,” ex-England captain Nasser Hussain chimed in on commentary as Bethell hit Prince Yadav on the pads for a boundary in the 28th over towards fine leg. “India will be very disappointed with their bowling today; they were very ordinary,” he admitted Ravi Shastri not long after.The 192-run stand between Bettello and Duckett marked multiple records. It was England’s first century in an ODI since 2023. It was England’s highest against India in an ODI. At Lord’s, it was the first stand for the hosts since 2010. It was also the biggest first-wicket partnership at the iconic venue ever.Before Duckett fell to Prince Yadav, scoring 141 off 135 balls, he recorded milestones of his own. None bigger, perhaps, than breaking Viv Richards’ record for the highest score at this venue (138) in the 1979 World Cup final.England amassed 387/3 on the board — the highest ODI score at Lord’s since the first-ever World Cup in 1975 — a day celebrated by Sunil Gavaskar’s 174-ball 36 in pursuit of 335 runs.Unlike Gavaskar, Root, another legend of the game, opted for a spirited game, scoring an unbeaten 48-ball 74. Sixth consecutive ODI 50 for Root, who India failed to dismiss even once in the 50-over series. Root amassed 249 runs in three innings and India barely came close to getting him out.The damage was caused by a first-wicket partnership, which deteriorated in the middle overs, and the result was all but confirmed in the end. The power play went for 58; the middle overs produced 203/1 and the last 10 overs saw 126 runs, including 62 runs in the last three.Not surprisingly, the bowlers bled. Gurnoor Brar conceded 97, Prince another 79, Arshdeep scored 72 and even Prasidh, the best of the bowlers with two wickets, conceded 69 runs – most of them coming in balls.On a surface that offered support to the seamers when there was disciplined bowling, as shown by Prasidh’s spell with the ball, India were erratic and paid for it. The men in blue fielded five front-line bowlers and desperately missed Bumrah while also, once again, opting to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench. The wrist spinner has featured in just eight ODIs out of the 15 he has played in the side since India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign. His ability to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs has been key to India’s winning formula. Yet, while India struggled to control the flow of runs and get a run out during that over, he was not brought on. The 31-year-old took part in all three net sessions at Edgbaston ahead of the first ODI and was also busy with the selection session ahead of the third series decider. With Sundar injured, Kuldeep was believed to be the ideal replacement. Unfortunately, that was not the case.“If you’re a side capable of taking wickets through that middle part of the game, it puts you in such a strong position going into the latter part of the game. It’s the same with the bat, if you’re a strong enough side to be able to rotate and pick up boundaries here and there as a batting unit, that puts you in the last 10 overs, which can have a huge impact on the game,” the England captain said. Harry Brook ahead of third ODI.India, unfortunately for their ODI World Cup 2027 title hopes, have not been consistently challenging in these middle overs. Against New Zealand in three ODIs, the middle overs saw: 163/5, 193/2 and 191/1. That scenario improved against Afghanistan before, once again, looking dire against England: 152/6, 146/4 and 203/1.India’s bowling seam without Bumrah looked uninspired and tasteless. The day out at Lord’s looked more like a case of Sunday cricket with the bowlers moving without much thought. Most deliveries were unloaded full and properly dispatched for 105 runs. At the other end of the surface, the Indian seamers bowled 38 short balls and were bowled for 87 runs, with an economy rate of 13.73. When the bowlers managed to straighten their line, in 77 balls, they conceded 58 runs.Ultimately, the target of 388 runs proved to be a bridge too far. It was the result of more than one bad trip. Bumrah’s absence has exposed the lack of bite in the pace attack, but the bigger concern, perhaps, remains India’s inability to take control in the middle overs. While England’s batsmen were clearly executing their plans, India were left searching for answers, persisting in combinations that repeatedly failed to stem the flow of runs. With 15 months to go until the 2027 ODI World Cup, these recurring problems have less to do with experimentation and more to do with missed opportunities to settle on a bowling formula that can consistently take wickets, apply pressure and win matches.
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