Shubman Gill hits sparkling century as India complete ODI clean sweep over ‘outplayed’ England

Shubman Gill cracked a sparkling century as India beat England by 142 runs to complete a 3-0 ODI series clean sweep in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The India opener's 122 came off 102 balls – including 14 fours and three sixes – at Narendra Modi Stadium while Virat Kohli (52) and Shreyas Iyer (78) contributed half-centuries as the home side registered 356 all out from their 50 overs. England leg-spinner Adil Rashid impressed with 4-64 while fast-bowler Mark Wood took 2-45 but Graeme Atkinson (1-74) and Joe Root (1-47) both went for more than nine an over. For the third game in a row, England made a solid start with the bat only to collapse from 126-2 to 214 all out to round off what has been a miserable white-ball tour in India for Jos Buttler's men. In the T20 series that preceded the one-day clashes, England were routed 4-1 and now head into the upcoming Champions Trophy licking their wounds and desperately searching for form. The top five of Phil Salt (23), Ben Duckett (34), Tom Banton (38), Joe Root (24) and Harry Brook (19) all made starts but failed to kick on. A quick-fire 38 off 19 balls from Graeme Atkinson provided a touch of light relief amid the batting gloom late on as England were bowled out in the 34th over. “I was feeling good and this is one my better knocks in ODIs,” said player of the series Gill. “The wicket was tricky at the start. There was a bit for the fast bowlers and the ball was seaming a bit. “The chat was to rotate the strike, don't lose many wickets in the power play and then we can build on it.” “The dressing room is electrifying with a lot of energy,” added Shreyer. “I feel that everyone on the team is in great form. “It’s great for the team to have won and to carry it on into the Champions Trophy. Getting crucial runs and wickets were important.” Earlier, after being put in to bat by England, India captain Rohit Sharma – who hit a stunning century in the second match in Cuttack – was out for one after edging Mark Wood's first ball through to a diving Phil Salt in the second over. But it was pretty much all down hill from there for the visitors as first Kohli and Gill combined for a partnership of 116, until the former edged a beauty from Rashid behind to Salt. That brought Shreyas to the wicket alongside Gill with the pair adding a further 104 as the opener reached his ton off 95 balls after sending Wood through midwicket for four. Gill eventually fell after being bowled by Rashid, who also accounted for Shreyas, whose knock came off 64 balls and included eight fours and two sixes. KL Rahul chipped in with 40 off 29 balls while contributions from the lower order ensured India surpassed the 350 mark, although more than 400 looked on after they reached 226-2 in the 35th. It looked bad from the start for England in reply with Duckett clearly struggling with a groin injury although the opener still managed to help his team reach 60 without loss before miscuing an Arshdeep Singh slower ball. Once Banton was out in the 17th over with England on 126-3, the wickets began to drop all too regularly with no visiting batter managing to reach their half century. Arshdeep, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel and Pandya all finished with two wickets each for India as England slumped to a 16th loss in their last 23 ODIs. “The game probably followed a similar pattern to the tour. We threatened them but we were outplayed by a better team,” admitted captain Buttler. “The learning is the way that we want to play our cricket. The style of cricket we want to play is the right one but we haven't been able to do it well enough. “As players, individually we need to see what we need to do better to play better as a unit. “They put a really good score on the board, went on to score a few hundreds. In this format when you can do that, you're set for a win. “We got off to a great start. Again, it was a familiar story, we need to find ways on staying out there for longer. “We were up against a really good side that keep challenging you with different options, spinners, seamers, it's a tough challenge. We threatened throughout the tour but not for long enough.”

Shubman Gill hits sparkling century as India complete ODI clean sweep over ‘outplayed’ England

Hosts seal 142-run win in Ahmedabad after being set on their way by brilliant knock from opener