Chasing 330 to win, English cricketer Ben Stokes had the hopes of his country riding on him in the third and final ODI at Pune on Sunday. After England lost their openers to Bhuvneshwar Kumar early on in the chase, the responsibility was on Stokes to lead the run-chase.

Unfortunately, Bhuvneshwar nearly got him when he tried to hit the Indian pacer straight over his head. The ball had the height but did not have the distance and Hardik got under the ball – and dropped a sitter.

A few overs later Hardik – who must have felt like the culprit – rejoiced and was over the moon when T. Natarajan got Stokes. Shikhar Dhawan took the catch safely and following that – Hardik bowed down in respect and relief. Stokes perished for 35 off 39 balls.

At the time of filing the copy, England was in a spot of bother at 97 for four in the 16th over. Bhuvneshwar has picked up two wickets and India is on top in the decider.

Earlier in the day, India’s batting unit displayed a change of approach in the third ODI against England here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Sunday and this ensured that despite losing wickets at regular intervals, the hosts posted a total of 329 in the allotted fifty overs.

Put into bat, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started right from the word go and played with more intent, compared to the previous two games. The duo put on 100 runs for the first wicket inside 14 overs, but as the partnership started looking ominous, Rohit (37) ended up losing his wicket to Adil Rashid in the 15th over of the innings.

Soon after, Dhawan (67) and skipper Virat Kohli (7) were also sent back to the dressing room, reducing the hosts to 121/3 in the 18th over.