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 ease. After winning the toss, the duo got off to a slow start but picked up steam as the day progressed in the third ODI against India. Arshdeep Singh and: Prasidh Krishna took over the new ball duties with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable due to an injury to his left knee during the second ODI. Reactive inflammation in his left knee put India’s premier seamer on the sidelines, with Arshdeep taking his place in the series decider.Krishna filled the gaps with back-to-back maiden overs as he found his line, length and added bounce. A series of 20 dotted balls defines the 30-year-old day out. Unfortunately, with Bumrah not there to help the other side’s effort, and nobody chipping anywhere near what ‘Boom’ offered, the struggle to find a wicket or apply pressure by restricting the flow of runs continued.Prince Yadav, who came in as a replacement for the stricken Washington Sundar, playing his third ODI, started by going for 11 runs, including a huge wide that evaded a desperate dive from wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.If the peaceful bowling wasn’t enough, the extras further played into England’s hands. India gave away 26 extras, including 16 in the wides and nine in the leg bye.“That about sums up India’s bowling and day so far,” shouted former England captain Nasser Hussain in commentary as Prince Yadav’s length delivery on the pads in the 28th over was tickled to fine leg by Bethell for a boundary. “India will be very disappointed with their bowling today; they are ordinary,” he admitted Ravi Shastri it didn’t take long.A 192-run stand between Bethell and Duckett ticked many record boxes. This is England’s first century stand in ODIs since 2023. It is England’s biggest stand against India in an ODI. At Lord’s, it was the first ton stand 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 recorded milestones of his own. Nothing bigger, perhaps, than overhauling Viv Richards’ record for the highest score in this area (138) back in the 1979 World Cup final.England got 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 fast display, scoring an unbeaten 48-ball 74. A sixth consecutive ODI fifty for Root, with India failing to get off even once in the 50-over series. Root amassed 249 runs in three innings and India hardly came close to getting him out.The damage was done to the first-wicket partnership, which worsened in the middle overs, and the result was confirmed in the end. The power play went to 58; the middle overs produced 203/1 and the last 10 overs saw 126 runs, including 62 runs in the last three.Unsurprisingly, the bowlers were bleeding. Gurnoor Brar scored 97, Prince another 79, Arshdeep hit 72, and even Prasidh, the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, conceded 69 runs – most of which came in slog overs.In a face that gave support to the seamers when there was disciplined bowling, as Prasidh’s dot-ball spell showed, India were not good and paid for it. The Men in Blue fielded five frontline bowlers and sorely missed Bumrah while, once again, decided to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench. The wrist spinner has featured in just eight ODIs out of 15 played in the side since India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign. His ability to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs is crucial to India’s winning formula. However, as India struggled to control the flow of runs and take a wicket during that stretch, he was not taken. 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 series-deciding third. When Sundar got injured, Kuldeep was thought to be the ideal replacement. Alas, that is not the case.“If you are a side that is able to take wickets in the middle stage of the game, it puts you in a strong position towards the back end of the game. Likewise with the bat, if you are a side that is strong enough to be able to rotate and get boundaries here and there as a batting unit, it puts you in a strong position going into the last 10 games,” said a big impact third skipper in England,” said a third England skipper. ODI.India, unfortunately for their 2027 ODI World Cup title hopes, have not consistently challenged these middlemen. Against New Zealand in three ODIs, the middle overs saw. 163/5, 193/2 and 191/1. That scenario flourished against Afghanistan before, again, looking terrible against England. 152/6, 146/4 and 203/1.India’s seam bowling effort without Bumrah looks uninspired and futile. The day at Lord’s appeared to be a case of Sunday cricket as the bowlers went about their business without much thought involved. Most of the deliveries landed full and were duly dispatched for 105 runs. At the other end of the face, the Indian seamers bowled 38 short balls and were bowled out for 87 runs, running at an economy rate of 13.73. When the bowlers got their line right, in 77 balls, they conceded 58 runs.In the end, the 388-run target proved to be a bridge too far. It was a result of more than just a bad outing. Bumrah’s absence has exposed a lack of bite in the pace attack, but the bigger worry, perhaps, remains India’s inability to seize control through the middle overs. While England’s batsmen executed their plans with clarity, India were left scrambling for answers, pursuing combinations that repeatedly failed to stem the flow of runs. With 15 months to go before the 2027 ODI World Cup, these recurring issues are less about experimentation and more about missed opportunities to settle on a bowling formula that consistently takes wickets, applies pressure and wins matches.