Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India came up 27 runs short at Lord’s on Sunday, and England took the three-match one-day series 2–1 — their first ODI series win over India since 2018. Set a steep 388 to chase after England piled up 387 for 3, India fought to 360 for 7 but could not quite haul in a total built on a blazing start. Yet the abiding image of the evening was Indian: Rohit Sharma’s 138, the first ODI century by an Indian man at the home of cricket, and the 34th of his one-day career. A series was lost; a small piece of history was made on the same ground.
The match was a run-feast. Ben Duckett struck 141 and Jacob Bethell 91 — England’s first hundred opening stand in an ODI since 2023 — before Joe Root (74 not out) and Jos Buttler (41 not out) saw the hosts to their highest-ever ODI total against India; Bethell was named Player of the Match. India’s reply never lacked ambition: Rohit’s century, a fluent 77 from captain Shubman Gill and 74 from Virat Kohli kept the chase alive deep into the innings, but the required rate proved a bridge too far on a fast outfield.
History on the honours board: England won the Lord’s decider by 27 runs to take the series 2–1 — but Rohit Sharma’s 138 made him the first Indian man to score an ODI century at the ground.
A series slips away and a landmark is set in the same innings. The scoreboard names a winner; the deeper story is a batting order that kept swinging to the last.
At a Glance
• Result: England won by 27 runs; series to England 2–1
• England: 387/3 (Duckett 141, Bethell 91, Root 74*, Buttler 41*)
• India: 360/7 (Rohit 138, Gill 77, Kohli 74)
• Landmark: Rohit is the first Indian man with an ODI hundred at Lord’s
Defeat on tour is never welcome, but this one carries plenty to build on. India chased 360 with three wickets in hand against a full-strength England attack, three of their senior batters passed fifty, and a new-look side led by Gill showed the depth and intent that has become its signature. England were simply too good on the day, and a touring team that can lose a match, and a series, and still find that much in the tank is rarely far from putting it right.
The constructive read is that sporting resilience is not luck; it is the yield of patient systems — coaching pathways, talent scouting and the bench strength that lets a side absorb a setback and come again. India’s white-ball cricket remains deep, fearless and generously stocked with young talent, and a hard week in England is exactly the kind of test that sharpens a good team into a great one. The honours board at Lord’s now carries an Indian name in the one-day list; the next task is to add the series trophy beside it.
