England have made a strong start in the Third ODI at Lord’s, electing to bat first against India. Their opening pair of Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett have accumulated runs, with England’s starting total of 27-0 from three overs being the highest achieved by a team. If England do come out on top today, it will be their first bilateral series win over India since 2018, as noted by Test Match Special commentator Alison Mitchell.
India’s Bowling Choices Under Scrutiny
India’s bowling strategy for the match has drawn comment, with former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta expressing surprise at the selection of four seamers, describing them as quite inexperienced. Dasgupta observed the pitch to be the driest seen this series, suggesting it would have been a good opportunity to use an extra spinner. He also highlighted that Prasidh Krishna is the only bowler who has played at Lord’s before, noting the difficulty in handling the slope for those unfamiliar with the ground.
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell commented that India have been “too easy” from ball one, suggesting they are missing Bumrah, who he described as effective towards left-handers. India made their first bowling change with Prince Yadav replacing Arshdeep Singh, but Yadav’s third delivery was fired miles down the leg side, resulting in five wides. Tufnell also questioned Shubman Gill’s decision to voluntarily opt to bowl first, wondering why he would go against all the statistics.
England Capitalise on Early Advantage
England, having won the toss and elected to bat first, saw their openers Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett make a promising start. The pair collected 17 runs apiece halfway through the powerplay, with this marking Bethell’s highest score of the series, surpassing his previous efforts of 14 and four in the first two matches. Two runs each came for Bethell and Duckett, with Bethell riding the bounce from Arshdeep Singh to send the ball down to third, and Duckett finding runs at mid-wicket.
Further runs for England came as Jacob Bethell guided Prasidh Krishna’s opening delivery through a narrow gap at point for four runs. While Krishna later bowled a maiden over to Bethell and twice squared him up with sharp deliveries, he also believed he had taken a stunning catch. The seamer tumbled forward to collect a ball that Bethell had chopped downwards, prompting questions over whether it came off the opener’s boot before reaching Krishna. Test Match Special commentator Alison Mitchell observed that the McCullum-Brook partnership appears effective in white-ball cricket, while Phil Tufnell noted England are not always the best at batting against a bit of mystery, but affirmed it has been a good start.
Lord’s Pitch and Historical Trends
The decision for England to bat first appears to align with historical trends at Lord’s, as noted by CricViz analyst Vikram Chandrasekaran, who called it a good toss to win. He pointed out that teams setting a target have won all of the last five ODIs at the venue, with the average first innings score in these matches standing at 289. Test Match Special statistician Andy Zaltzman corroborated this, stating that in the last 11 one-day internationals at Lord’s, the side batting second has lost.
Despite this trend, Zaltzman added that when batting first since the 2023 World Cup, England have won four and lost 15. The pitch itself is the driest seen this series, and Phil Tufnell noted it can be difficult to adjust to Lord’s due to the slope.
As the match progresses, England will be looking to build on their early advantage with the aim of securing their first bilateral series win over India since 2018.