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India 224 for 2 (Kohli 80*, Rohit 64, Pandya 39*, Yadav 32) beat England 188 for 8 (Malan 68, Buttler 52, Thakur 3-45, Bhuvneshwar 2-15) by 36 runs
Ahmedabad: An impressive outing with the bat was followed by a resilient bowling performance as India thrashed England by 36 runs to clinch the series 3-2 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Chasing an improbable 225 for win in the series decider, England lost Jason Roy for a duck second-ball of the innings but then a 130-run second wicket partnership between Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan (68) made Virat Kohli and co.
scratch their heads for a decent interval in the game.
The way both the top-order batsmen batted it looked like England would chase the target with an trouble. But the momentum finally swung back in India favour in the 13th over after Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed well-set Buttler for 52.
In the 15th over, Shardul then struck twice to remove Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan and put India right back on top.
The wicket of skipper Eoin Morgan in the very next over decisively put the game in India's corner. With too much to get with a very few balls in hand, even in-form Ben Stokes help England's cause.
The visitors eventually ended at 188 for 8.
England wanted this series to test them ahead of the World Cup, with the decider delivering the stiffest of challenges.
After the India assault, Jason Roy was bowled by Bhuvneshwar from the second ball of the innings, only for Malan to arrive with a fluency that was missing in the previous four games.
Buttler was typically powerful, and with Malan driving and deflecting, their partnership of 130 had England in the hunt.
However, on a run-filled pitch, it was the performance of Bhuvneshwar that proved the difference. With no great pace, he held his nerve with accuracy and trickery to return incredible figures of 2-15 from his four overs.
Thakur supported with his own changes of pace. Around the time of Buttler's wicket, England went 22 deliveries without finding the boundary.
Jonny Bairstow, Malan and Eoin Morgan fell for two runs in the space of seven deliveries, all to slower balls, and England ground to a halt.
Earlier, Virat Kohli's unbeaten 80 along with a scintillating 64 from Rohit Sharma at the top took India to an impressive 224/2 in the series decider.
Kohli's decision to open alongside Rohit united India's best two players, with devastating and thrilling results.
The languid Rohit played beautifully, driving and pulling with awesome power. A wild hack to inside-edge a Stokes slower ball on to the stumps was the first mistake he made.
The first-wicket stand of 94 came in only nine overs, but there was no respite for England, with Suryakumar hitting two glorious lofted drives for sixes off Adil Rashid from the second and third balls he faced.
Kohli was the anchor, taking only 25 from his first 23 balls, then 55 from the next 29. He was joined for the final assault by Hardik, who muscled boundaries off the back foot.
England were almost powerless in the face of such destruction on a superb surface, but at times the bowling lacked variety.
Still, Chris Jordan's outrageous moment of brilliance to remove Suryakumar will live long in the memory. Sprinting round the long-on boundary, he was in perfect control when he held Suryakumar at waist height in his right hand, the catch completed when Jordan under-armed to Roy, who could only laugh in disbelief.
