IND vs ENG: 18 till I die – Pant goes kooky
An entertaining day for the keeper-batsman finisher ended with a maiden white-ball hundred after a reprieve from Buttler at 18.
He hadn’t hit a single boundary until his 24th delivery and charged out to Craig for a heave and outside edge the ball to the keeper for four. He would give England a bigger opening after his 27th delivery.
He jumped down the track and swung so hard that he fell back on the pitch to try and make his ground after finishing the bat swing and falling back onto the pitch. Unfortunately for England, Buttler failed to collect the ball. He was 18 at that time.
Pant had scored five Test hundreds but had not scored a single one in the other two formats. However, after Buttler reprieved him in Manchester on Sunday, he went on to hit an unconquered 125 off 114 deliveries that rendered India the one-day series over England. After taking 71 balls for his fifty and 35 for the hundred, he could see how well he was paced.
India was down to 72 for four before Pant and Hardik Pandya came in. Then, after the all-rounder fell with another 55 required, Pant happened to destroy England. After playing the situation all along and turning it around for his team, Pant determined to have fun and carved David Willey for five consecutive fours to lend India to the brink of victory, and then mocked everyone present at Old Trafford by calling a single off. His reverse-swept four off Joe Root ended the game.