TimesofIndia.com in London: Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett went about a warm, pleasant and sunny morning at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday with some ease. Having won the toss, the duo started slowly but picked up pace as the day went on in the third ODI against India. Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna took the new ball duties with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable due to an impact injury on his left knee during the second ODI. Reactive swelling on his left knee put India’s premier seamer on the sidelines, with Arshdeep taking his spot in the series decider.Krishna plugged the gaps with back-to-back maiden overs as he found his line, length and extra bounce. A streak of 20 dot balls defined the 30-year-old’s day out. Unfortunately, with Bumrah not there to aid the effort on the other side, and no one chipping in remotely close to what ‘Boom’ offers, the struggle to find a wicket or apply pressure by stemming the flow of runs continued.Prince Yadav, coming in as a replacement for the injury-affected Washington Sundar, playing just his third ODI, started by going for 11 runs, including a massive wide that evaded a desperate dive from wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.If the placid bowling wasn’t enough, the extras further played into England’s hands. India gifted away 26 extras, including 16 in wides and nine in leg byes.“That about sums up India’s bowling and day so far,” chimed former England captain Nasser Hussain in commentary as Prince Yadav’s length delivery on the pads in the 28th over was tickled towards fine leg by Bethell for a boundary. “India will be very disappointed with their bowling today; they’ve been very ordinary,” admitted Ravi Shastri not long after.A 192-run stand between Bethell and Duckett ticked off multiple record boxes. It was England’s first century-stand in ODIs since 2023. It was England’s biggest stand against India in an ODI. At Lord’s, it was the first ton-up stand for the hosts since 2010. It was also the biggest first-wicket partnership at the iconic venue ever.Before Duckett fell to Prince Yadav, scoring 141 off 135 balls, he jotted down milestones of his own. None bigger, possibly, than overhauling Viv Richards’ record for the highest score at this venue (138) back in the 1979 World Cup final.England racked up 387/3 on the board — the biggest ODI score at Lord’s since the first-ever World Cup in 1975 — a day made more famous by Sunil Gavaskar’s 174-ball 36 in a 335-run chase.Unlike Gavaskar, Root, another legend of the game, opted for a brisk showing, scoring an unbeaten 48-ball 74. A sixth straight ODI fifty for Root, whom India failed to dismiss even once in the 50-over series. Root amassed 249 runs in three innings and India barely even got close to getting him out.The damage was done by the first-wicket partnership, exacerbated in the middle overs, and the result was all but confirmed in the end. The power play went for 58; the middle overs produced 203/1 and the final 10 overs saw 126 runs, including 62 runs in the last three.Not surprisingly, the bowlers bled runs. Gurnoor Brar conceded 97, Prince another 79, Arshdeep went for 72, and even Prasidh, the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, conceded 69 runs – most of them coming in the slog overs.On a surface that offered support to seamers when there was disciplined bowling, as displayed by Prasidh’s dot-ball spell, India were erratic and paid for it. The Men in Blue fielded five frontline bowlers and desperately missed Bumrah while also, once again, deciding to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench. The wrist spinner has been involved in just eight ODIs out of the 15 played by the side since India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign. His ability to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs has been crucial to India’s winning formula. Yet, as India struggle to control the flow of runs and eke out a wicket during that passage, he has not been brought in. The 31-year-old was involved in all three net sessions at Edgbaston ahead of the first ODI and was also busy in the optional session before the series-deciding third. As Sundar picked up an injury, Kuldeep was believed to be the ideal change. Alas, that wasn’t to be the case.“If you’re a side that’s able to take wickets through that middle period of the game, it puts you in such a strong position going into the back end of the game. Likewise with the bat, if you’re a strong enough side to be able to rotate and pick up boundaries here and there as a batting unit, it sets you up going into the last 10 overs, which can have a massive impact on the game,” said England skipper Harry Brook ahead of the third ODI.India, unfortunately for their 2027 ODI World Cup title hopes, haven’t challenged consistently in these middle overs. Against New Zealand in three ODIs, the middle overs saw: 163/5, 193/2 and 191/1. That scenario improved against Afghanistan before, once again, looking dire against England: 152/6, 146/4 and 203/1.India’s seam bowling effort without Bumrah looked uninspired and insipid. The day out at Lord’s appeared more a case of Sunday cricket with the bowlers going about their motion without much of a thought involved. The bulk of the deliveries landed full and were duly dispatched for 105 runs. At the other end of the surface, India seamers bowled 38 short balls and were whacked for 87 runs, going at an economy rate of 13.73. When the bowlers did get their line right, on 77 balls, they let go of 58 runs.Ultimately, the 388-run target proved to be a bridge too far. It was a consequence of more than just one poor outing. Bumrah’s absence exposed the lack of bite in the pace attack, but the larger concern, perhaps, remains India’s inability to seize control through the middle overs. While England’s batters executed their plans with clarity, India were left searching for answers, persisting with combinations that have repeatedly failed to stem the flow of runs. With 15 months to go before the 2027 ODI World Cup, these recurring issues are becoming less about experimentation and more about missed opportunities to settle on a bowling formula that can consistently take wickets, apply pressure and win matches.
