TimesofIndia.com in London: Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett took to a warm, pleasant and sunny morning at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday with some ease. After winning the toss, the duo started slowly but picked up the pace as the day wore on in the third ODI against India. Arshdeep Singh is Prasidh Krishna He took over the new ball duties with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable due to an impact injury to his left knee during the second ODI. Reactive swelling on the left knee put India’s top seamer on the sidelines, with Arshdeep taking his place in the series decider.Krishna bridged the gaps with back-to-back slavers as he found his line, length and extra bounce. A streak of 20 point bubbles defined the day of 30 years. Unfortunately, with Bumrah not there to help the effort on the other side, and no one who came remotely close to what ‘Boom’ offered, the struggle to find a wicket or apply pressure to stem the flow of runs continued.Prince Yadav, coming in as a replacement for the injury-hit Washington Sundar, playing just his third ODI, started off by going for 11 runs, including a wide that evaded a desperate dive by wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.If the placid bowling wasn’t enough, the overs played more into England’s hands. India gave away 26 extras, including 16 overs and nine over leg.“That sums up India’s bowling and day so far,” former England captain Nasser Hussain said in a commentary as Prince Yadav’s length delivery on the pads in the 28th over was tickled towards fine leg by Bethell for a boundary. “India will be very disappointed with their bowling today; they were very ordinary,” he admitted. Ravi Shastri shortly after.A 192-run stand between Bethell and Duckett ticked several record boxes. It was England’s first century in ODIs since 2023. It was England’s biggest stand against India in an ODI. At Lord’s, it was the first stand-up for the hosts since 2010. It was also the biggest first-wicket partnership at the iconic venue ever.Before Duckett fell to Prince Yadav, scoring 141 off 135 balls, he scored milestones of his own. None bigger, possibly, than breaking Viv Richards’ record for the highest score at this venue (138) in the 1979 World Cup final.England racked up 387/3 on the board – the biggest ODI score at Lord’s since the first World Cup in 1975 – a day made more famous by Sunil Gavaskar’s 174-ball 36 in a 335-run chase.Unlike Gavaskar, Root, another legend of the game, opted for a lively display, scoring an unbeaten 48-ball 74. A sixth consecutive ODI fifty for Root, which India have yet to achieve once in the 50-over series. Root amassed 249 runs in three innings and India barely came close to getting out.The damage was done by the association of the first wicket, aggravated in the middle, and the result was all confirmed in the end. The power play went for 58; the middle overs produced 203/1 and the last 10 overs saw 126 runs, including 62 runs in the last three.Not surprisingly, bowlers bleed runs. Gurnoor Brar conceded 97, Prince another 79, Arshdeep went for 72, and even Prasidh, the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, conceded 69 runs – most of them coming in slog overs.On a surface that offered support to the wicketkeepers when there was disciplined bowling, as shown by Prasidh’s spell, India were erratic and paid for it. The Man in Blue fielded five front-line bowlers and desperately missed Bumrah, while once again they decided to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench. The wrist spinner has been involved in just eight ODIs out of the 15 played by the side since India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign. His ability to provide breakthroughs in the middle has been crucial to India’s winning formula. Yet, as India struggled to control the flow of runs and clear a wicket during that over, he was not carried. The 31-year-old was involved in all three net sessions at Edgbaston ahead of the first ODI and was also busy in the optional session ahead of the third decider of the series. As Sundar picked up an injury, Kuldeep was believed to be the ideal replacement. Alas, that was not the case.“If you’re a side that’s able to take wickets through that middle period of the game, it puts you in such a strong position going into the end of the game. As with the bat, if you’re a side strong enough to be able to rotate and pick boundaries here and there as a batting unit, it puts you in the last 10 game, which can have an impact on England’s last 10,” said Harry. ahead of the third ODI.India, unfortunately for their 2027 ODI World Cup title hopes, have not consistently challenged in this media. Against New Zealand in three ODIs, the overs average saw: 163/5, 193/2 and 191/1. That scenario improved against Afghanistan before, once again, looking dire against England: 152/6, 146/4 and 203/1.India’s bowling effort without Bumrah looked uninspired and bland. The day out at Lord’s appeared more a case of Sunday cricket with the bowlers going about their motion without much thought involved. Most of the shipments landed full and were shipped for 105 runs. At the other end of the surface, the Indian seamers bowled 38 short balls and were bowled out for 87 runs, going at an economy rate of 13.73. When the bowlers got their line right, on 77 balls, they let 58 runs.Ultimately, the 388-run target proved to be a bridge too far. It was a consequence of more than a poor outing. Bumrah’s absence has exposed the lack of bite in the pace attack, but the biggest concern, perhaps, remains India’s inability to take control through the middle overs. While England’s batsmen executed their plans with clarity, India were left scrambling for answers, persisting with combinations that repeatedly failed to stem the flow of runs. With 15 months to go before the 2027 ODI World Cup, these recurring problems have become less about experimentation and more about missed opportunities to establish a bowling formula that can consistently take wickets, apply pressure and win matches.