Third Royal London one-day international, Emirates Old Trafford
England 259 (45.5 overs): Buttler 60 (80); Hardik 4-24
India 261-5 (42.1 overs): Pant 125* (113), Hardik 71 (55); Topley 3-35
India won by five wickets, won series 2-1
Scorecard

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya carried India to a five-wicket victory over England in the deciding one-day international at Old Trafford.

Chasing 260, India were reduced to 72-4, only for Pant and Hardik to share a stand of 133.

Pant could have been stumped on 18, while Craig Overton misjudged a chance to catch Hardik when he had only six.

Though Hardik was out with 55 still needed, Pant went on to complete his maiden ODI century and hit the winning runs with 47 balls to spare to end 125 not out.

Hardik’s effort with the ball was earlier the primary reason why England were bowled out for 259, despite 60 from captain Jos Buttler.

Buttler suffers a defeat in his first ODI series since replacing Eoin Morgan as skipper, the scoreline replicating India’s success in the T20s.

England move on to a three-match one-day contest against South Africa, which begins on Tuesday at Chester-le-Street.

India prevail in see-saw struggle

This was a fascinating tussle, the most competitive match in a series where the two sides had previously claimed a one-sided victory apiece.

In the end, India triumphed to the delight of a noisy and partisan crowd thanks to Hardik, one of the form white-ball cricketers in the world, and wicketkeeper Pant, who has had a fine tour in all three formats.

It was India’s greater ability to adapt to the two-paced pitch that saw them prevail. Hardik led an attack that intelligently used the short ball. Later, he produced a match-winning stand with Pant, who delivered a memorable hundred.

England will rue their missed chances in the field, but will also know that their top-order batting has not fired once across the three matches.

England are a team in transition. New captain Buttler and coach Matthew Mott are rebuilding a pace attack ravaged by injuries, while they were also without key leg-spinner Adil Rashid, missing this series after undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage.

They will be contenders at the World Cup next year, but the biggest threat to the defence of their trophy will be India, who are building a team capable of replicating their 2011 triumph on home soil.

Pant and Hardik lead chase

India were rocking when Reece Topley, England’s find of the summer in white-ball cricket, took the edge of all of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, with Overton following up by removing Suryakumar Yadav.

If Buttler had taken the simple stumping chance when Moeen Ali deceived Pant, the game could have been done, while Overton got nowhere near Hardik’s miscue off Brydon Carse that would have been a straightforward catch at long leg.

Reprieved, the fifth-wicket pair steadily rebuilt. Left-hander Pant pounced on anything short, while Hardik stood tall to play handsome strokes through the off side.

England exhausted all of their options and the game was hurtling away from them when Hardik failed to get on top of a Carse bouncer, allowing Ben Stokes to take a fine diving catch at mid-wicket.

Pant, though, sprinted on, audaciously sweeping David Willey for six. There was a nervy moment when he chipped Overton over Willey at mid-on to move to 99, but after he completed his hundred, he exploded, taking Willey for five consecutive fours.

The winning runs came with a reverse-sweep off Joe Root’s off-spin, one final moment of magic in a spectacular knock.

Hardik barrage keeps England in check

It rarely felt like England were in control in the face of near-constant short bowling from India – all four of Hardik’s wickets came from deliveries banged into the pitch.

Mohammed Siraj removed Jonny Bairstow and Root, both for ducks, in his first over, then Pandya induced miscues at bouncers from Jason Roy, for 41, and Stokes, leaving England in trouble at 74-4.

But Buttler, who was twice hit on the head in the same Siraj over, rebuilt in a careful stand of 75 with Moeen and added 49 with Lancashire team-mate Liam Livingstone.

Buttler’s 65-ball half-century was his second-slowest in ODIs – he and Livingstone were just looking to unleash when they both fell. Livingstone had pulled Pandya for two sixes only to be caught attempting a third, while Buttler went in similar fashion to a brilliant tumbling catch at deep mid-wicket by Ravindra Jadeja.

Despite 32 from Overton, England lost their last five wickets for 61 runs.

‘We are not far off’ – reaction

England captain Jos Butter to BBC Test Match Special: “It was a good wicket once you got yourself in so we were a bit light with the bat. But the start we made with the ball gave us a chance and that missed stumping cost us. Pant is a really good player and you give a player like that a second chance they are going to hurt you.

“We are not quite hitting our straps as a batting unit but we are not far off. We are just not producing what we are capable of. So hopefully individually and collectively we can find a solution.”

India captain Rohit Sharma to TMS: “I’m quite pleased with the effort from the boys. We knew when we came here it was not going to be easy to win both legs of the white-ball series. We all put a real effort into it and it is something we are really proud of.

“It was a crucial partnership for us, putting the team in the right place and for Rishabh to come out and bat like that – we all know his talent it was just getting that big score and winning the game for us.”

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya to Sky Sports: “We are absolutely thrilled, we all know how good a team England are. For us it was important to check what plans we have with the World Cup coming, it was the ideal chance and situation to step up and show what we had.

“We all know what talent Pant has, he played the situation and we had to make a partnership. The way he finished was special.”