In pics: From Hardik Pandya dropping Ben Stokes to Sam Curran's unbeaten 95 runs - Moments from IND vs ENG 3rd ODI

Team India opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan went past 5000 partnership runs in the ODIs. Rohit and Shikhar stitched a 103-run partnership on just 14.4 overs to give India a much-needed fast start to challenge this marauding England's batting line-up.

With those 103 runs, Rohit and Shikhar took their partnership runs tally to 5023 runs in the ODIs. By the virtue of the same, they became the second Indian pair to score 5000-plus runs as an opening partnership after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who are on the top of the pile with 8227 runs.

Hardik Pandya, one of India's best fielders, dropped a sitter of left-hander Ben Stokes. In the fifth over of the innings of the third ODI, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a length ball on off and Stokes, looking to play a check drive with a straight bat, got it higher on the bat and lofted it high in the air. 

Hardik came across, had it covered and then somehow allowed the ball to burst through his hands. Stokes' bat turned as he played the shot as the timing wasn't there as he spooned it in the air down at mid-off's throat, however, Hardik, even after covering the ground pretty well, could hold on to the catch in a huge miss for the team as Stokes was the one who punished the errant Indian side in the last game.

But, thankfully for Hardik and Team India Stokes didn't make them pay much as he was dismissed by pacer T Natarajan getting him caught on the leg-side boundary for 35.

Soon after the all-rounder was dismissed, Pandya was seen bowing on the ground and being happy that the dangerman was out.

Shardul Thakur has become the unofficial partnership breaker for Team India. He started showing the colours from the fourth match of the T20I series and since then he hasn't stopped his wicket-taking run.

In the third ODI, he didn't take two wickets in the same over, but in consecutive overs to break the back of England's middle-order. Thakur had removed England's stand-in-skipper Jos Buttler, but the duo of Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan had stitched a 60-run partnership and the visitors were back in the game. 

Thakur in his returning spell first removed the right-hander Livingstone on a full toss and in the next over, he accounted for the dangerous Dawid Malan after the left-hander notched-up his maiden fifty in the ODIs.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli with his splendid fielding effort grabbed a one-hand stunner to help India get the eighth wicket. He helped break the emerging dangerous partnership between Sam Curran and Adil Rashid. 

Shardul Thakur bowled a shorter delivery outside the off-stump with a scrambled seam. Rashid played it with soft hands towards the covers.

Kohli was standing near the third or fourth pitch, he anticipated the ball and moved swiftly towards his left and stretched his left hand to grab the ball and pluck it out of thin air to help India get the eighth wicket and break the crucial 57-run partnership.

England were in a spot of bother at various junctures during their batting innings as they were 95/4 at one stage and 200/7 at another. 

But it was the 22-year old Sam Curran who weathered the storm for his side and proved to be the one-man army and with the help of Adil Rashid and Mark Wood, he kept coasting along as the run-rate was never the problem.

He brought up his maiden fifty in the ODIs and wasn't giving up as he helped England to rise up. However, with the tailender alongside him, he had to keep the strike with himself and the total became out of his reach.

Ultimately, it was left-arm pacer T Natarajan who bowled a fantastic last over to not let Sam Curran pull off a thrilling chase as India won the decider by seven runs and the series 2-1.