9.10pm Right then, that was fun! Now on to Lord's for the series decider. That'll be all from us today. On behalf of George, Raghav and Harshith, it's Abhimanyu signing off. Goodnight.
Harry Brook: "I thought it was a phenomenal effort [with the ball]. They were 180 for 3 after 30 overs and looking like getting a good total. When Sam and Jacks were bowling together, they did well and then to bowl them out was ridiculous. On another day we might have another spinner but today we thought the extra seamer was the right option. [On Root] He's a phenomenal player. You can learn so much off him in the changing room as well. Great player to have around and he turns up when you need him the most. He's been one of the best in the world for many years at rotating strike. I actually remember an innings from a few years back where he hit just three fours and got a hundred. Phenomenal rotator of strike. [On maybe having to qualify for the 2027 World Cup] We are just taking every day as it comes. If we have to qualify, we have to qualify. Right now we are just looking towards Sunday."
Shubman Gill: "[On the total] Quite disappointing. We thought 300-310 would be a good total after 25 overs when we were in a good position, but we lost too many wickets in the middle overs. [On the collapses] Our tailenders are not the best batsmen, but we expected more from the lower middle-order batters and they were not able to capitalise on their starts. Never a good feeling when you ping one to cover. [Sundar] is a key part of our team. Maybe it would have played a part, squeezing in the pressure. We had to bowl our main bowlers throughout the innings. I don't think it would have made a huge difference because the ball was doing more for the fast bowlers, but when you lose a key player, there is some momentum loss. [On Root] We always knew that if the run-rate was 5 or more, we could have got a false shot out of him, but this kind of chase, he's a master of these totals."
Joe Root: "[Pleased with the win?] Absolutely, that's what the game is about. 1-1 in the series going to Lord's. In those conditions, staying till the end and getting the win, that's what it's all about. Getting the win was the important thing. Conditions were difficult to bat on, and we needed those partnerships to soak up the pressure. Sometimes you have to scrap for it and win ugly. [On the current form of the ODI team] You could look at the last 30 games and our record or look at the here and now. We won the series in Sri Lanka after losing the first game. We learned lessons from that defeat. We did exactly that here. To beat the world No. 1 team is great. The perception of this team is very different from where it is."
Here are some stats:
Joe Root has scored 286 runs without being dismissed across his last three ODI innings. The England record for most runs between dismissals in men's ODIs is 309 by Root in 2018, followed by Graeme Hick's 301 runs in 1999.
England's sixth 99 not out in men's internationals, first in ODIs
Joe Root - 17th batter to remain unbeaten on 99 in a men's ODI.
"I wouldn't have taken that single in the second-last over," Shubman Gill tells TMS when asked how would you feel if you were Joe Root stranded on 99.
8.50pm England see off a chase that constantly threatened to get away from them, right from that first ball wicket, but between India and an unlikely victory - after the visitors could only manage 233 - stood an impeccable Joe Root. He's been the rock in England's ODI lineup for over a decade now, and he treated the chase like it was bread and butter for him. The other rather iconic No. 3 in the match, Virat Kohli, also played a high-quality knock, and was supported by a Shreyas Iyer fifty, but in the end, the rest of the batting lineup did not offer enough support to get them the win. Which means, we will have a series decider at England's Home of Cricket, Lord's, which only recently saw another historic India-England match, albeit with the red ball. A series with everything on the line in the final game, isn't that what we all want?
Ashish: "I said it when eng wer 4 down that till Root is there, he will steer England though and he did just that. His presence meant other batters along with him were able to get crucial runs."
Rabi: "What an unselfish sportsman of the highest caliber Root is! He has in ultra abundance the qualities of a true superstar. Bravo!"
Fahim: "What are you doing Atkinson? What what what!"
Mahir : "Just switched the TV on to see root's century and left hung spellbound "
Pavan: "Correction there - Virat's retaliation for the bat drop celebration was when he pulled off a brilliant direct hit run-out of Root on 80, not for a catch" -- Ah yes, my bad.
Field has closed in
Will be funny if Atkinson gets a boundary here. Prasidh to bowl his final over
Neelesh: "@Root please do the bat drop celebration afterhitting the winning shot alongside the 100" -- I was thinking about that one as well! (And Kohli's riposte when he took a blinder in the ensuing Test series to dismiss Root)
