The Big Picture

After notching up a three-wicket and 138-run win over the touring English Lions hosts India A claimed a comprehensive 60-run win in the third game to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5-match One-day series.

All eyes were on the returning KL Rahul and skipper Ajinkya Rahane to set the game ablaze, but it was the bowlers- led by Krunal Pandya, who dominated the narrative of the game.

Having chosen to bat first, India A got off to a worst possible start; losing skipper Rahane for a golden duck after Lewis Gregory had trapped him in front of the wicket. KL Rahul failed to impress on his comeback, scrapping his way to a 23-ball 21.

Ishan Kishan [30] and Krunal Pandya [21] stitched a patient 41-run stand before the duo of Will Jacks [2-33] and Matthew Carter [2-23] inflicted yet another collapse that saw the hosts reeling at 8-110. Deepak Chahar's 65-ball 39 took India A to a fighting total of 172.

Defending 173, Axar Patel started the early damage by accounting for Alex Davies [0] and Will Jacks [1]. Skipper Sam Billings [4] offered a simple return catch to Deepak Chahar and all of a sudden, the Lions found themselves against the eight-ball, at 3-23.

Ben Duckett [39] and Ollie Pope [27] stitched a tenacious 47-run stand for the fourth wicket. But, one Pope was dismissed by Navdeep Saini, another collapse ensued as Krunal Pandya [4-21] ran through the lower-middle order to bowl the English out for 112.

The fourth One-day will be played on Tuesday. The match will feature Rishabh Pant, who is scheduled to fly to New Zealand for the T20Is after the culmination of the One-day series. Ankit Bawne will lead the side for the remainder of the series.

Brief Scores-
India A [172, Chahar 39, Jamie Overton 3-34] beat England Lions [112, Duckett 39, Krunal Pandya 4-21] by 60 runs