Shubman Gill dazzled with his seventh ODI hundred, while the embattled Virat Kohli got a crucial fifty as India hammered England by 142 runs in the third and final match to complete a 3-0 series sweep for a perfect end to their Champions Trophy preparations here on Wednesday.
Gill's 102-ball 112 was the highlight but middle-order mainstays Kohli (52) and Shreyas Iyer (78) were also instrumental in pushing India to a formidable 356 in the first half after being put into bat.
Indian bowlers then took over the mantle to complete England's demolition, bundling out the visitors for a mere 214 in 34.2 overs to complete a comprehensive victory -- their second largest in ODIs in terms of runs -- against a familiar opponent.
There was no change in the script for English, who came crashing down against spin after a sparkling start against pace, which was provided by the pair of Ben Duckett (34) and Phil Salt (24) in tow.
The slowness of the surface aided Indian bowlers as strike-making became difficult as the match progressed.
Duckett took charge of England’s response early on but played one shot too many. After smacking Arshdeep Singh (2/33) for four consecutive boundaries around the park in the fifth over, he again went after the left-arm seamer but was deceived by the 'pace off' knuckleball.
The mishit was collected cleanly by India skipper Rohit Sharma at mid-off and Arshdeep soon bounced out Salt, albeit off a slower one which the batter hit meekly to Axar Patel for a simple grab.
Tom Banton gave a good example of himself playing his first ODI against India, hitting a couple of attractive reverse sweeps against spinners but he could not push on beyond a 41-ball 38 with four fours and two sixes.
Joe Root perished for just 24 when an inside edge off Axar (2/22) crashed into his stumps and Harshit Rana (2/31) hastened the end of England’s resistance by getting rid of Harry Brook (19) and Jos Buttler (6) in quick succession.
Kohli made the most of a juicy overpitched delivery from Mark Wood which he drove through the covers for his first four, then got on top of the ball from Saqib Mahmood to swat it for another boundary through mid-wicket and punished the England pacer for being wayward as he cut him for his third four.
While his stroke play was compelling in the run-a-ball fifty for his 73rd half-century, there were elements of struggle against leg-spinner Rashid.
Kohli was stranded 37 runs short of becoming only the third batter ever to make 14,000 ODI runs, missing a personal landmark like his teammate Rohit Sharma earlier in the innings. It is expected to be completed during the Champions Trophy.
Coming off a terrific century in the second ODI, Rohit (1) could not even get a start as a delivery from Wood which was angled in, and straightened enough to take the outside edge and Phil Salt collected a sharp catch.
Scoreboard :
England: Phil Salt c Patel b Arshdeep Singh 23 Ben Duckett c Sharma b Arshdeep Singh 34 Tom Banton c Rahul b Kuldeep Yadav 38 Joe Root b Patel 24 Harry Brook b Harshit Rana 19 Jos Buttler b Harshit Rana 6 Liam Livingstone st Rahul b Washington Sundar 9 Gus Atkinson b Patel 38 Adil Rashid b Pandya 0 Mark Wood c Iyer b Pandya 9 Saqib Mahmood not out 2
Extras: (B-5, LB-4, W-3) 12 Total: (All out in 34.2 overs) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-80, 3-126, 4-134, 5-154, 6-161, 7-174, 8-175, 9-193, 10-214.
Bowling: Arshdeep Singh 5-0-33-2, Harshit Rana 5-1-31-2, Washington Sundar 5-0-43-1, Axar Patel 6.2-1-22-2, Hardik Pandya 5-0-38-2, Kuldeep Yadav 8-0-38-1.
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