ENG vs IND: Rishabh Pant gifts Player of the Match champagne bottle to Ravi Shastri
Team India won the third and final match of the ODI series they played against England and went on to clinch the series by 2-1. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was simply amazing with the bat as he scored an unbeaten century and helped his side to win the game easily in the end.
Deservingly, he also won the Player of the Match award for his heroics and was given a Champagne bottle along with a medal. Meanwhile, a video of Rishabh Pant giving a bottle of champagne to former Indian head coach and commentator Ravi Shastri has gone viral on social media.
In the video Pant can be seen shaking Shastri’s hand before handing the bottle to the latter which he received as an appreciation token after being adjudged player of the match. Interestingly, even Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan also offered the same to Shastri who just smiled but didn’t take the bottle.
Here’s the video:
Hardik Pandya shone with his all-round brilliance
Talking about the match, team India won the toss and opted to have a bowl first. Mohammed Siraj took England by surprise as he sent back Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root in the same over. Opener Jason Roy played his shots, but he was also scalped soon. Skipper Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes tried to steady England’s ship, but Hardik Pandya got the better of both players.
Some decent contributions from David Willey, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Craig Overton ensured that England scored 259 runs in their allotted 50 overs. In reply, India had a poor start as they lost both their opener on a score of 21. Virat Kohli was also scalped soon after scoring 17 runs.
The Men in Blue were in deep trouble after losing Suryakumar Yadav on a team score of 72. However, Pandya and Pant scored an excellent 100+ run partnership and bailed out their team from a tricky situation. While Pandya scored an excellent fifty, Pant remained unbeaten for his 125 runs stroking 16 fours and two sixes.
Pacer Reece Topley was the pick of bowlers for the English side, but no other bowler had an impact on the match as India won by five wickets and clinched a famous series victory.