After two stunning matches, when and where is the India vs England 3rd and final ODI? All you need to know

India have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in a series which has seen runs, runs and more runs

R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, India, England, 3rd ODI — India bowler and captain R Ashwin and Virat Kohli celebrate the fall of an England wicket during the second ODI, January 19, 2017Reuters

Memo to Eoin Morgan and his bowlers before the third ODI – do not take early wickets against India, because that only leads to two batsmen putting on a ridiculous partnership and taking the game away from the away side.

In both matches, England have had India against the ropes in the first round.

At the MCA Stadium in Pune, the score was 63/4, while the home team were chasing 351. Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav put on 200 runs together and the rest was easy peasy.

In Cuttack, at the Barabati Stadium, India were 25/3, batting first, before Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni came together for 256 runs to send England careening towards another defeat.

So, come the third and final ODI, dead rubber or not, England will be a little wary of those early wickets. Maybe, keeping KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan – or Ajinkya Rahane, if the batsman comes in for one of the openers – for a while is the better option.

Because, India seem to find another gear when they have their backs to the wall, and the worrying thing for England will be the ease with which both those partnerships were produced.

The positive to take for England from that though is that, if not for four truly great innings, it would have been them going into the final match with an unassailable 2-0 lead in this series. What the England batsmen, as good as they are, can learn from India is the art of making big individual scores.

If you are set, particularly in such great batting conditions, it becomes an obligation to make it count. A flashy 76, 54 and 61 will not do. One of those batsmen needs to put his hands up and play a 140 or 150.

Had Jason Roy or Joe Root done that when they were going great in their second wicket partnership, England might well have cruised home in the run chase in the second ODI. Instead, they gave away their wickets at crucial junctures, leaving Eoin Morgan with too much to do on his own.

This has been a series for the batsmen so far, with all four innings breaching the 350-run mark, three of them with plenty to spare. The bowlers have had very little help and while the ground at the Eden Gardens will be much bigger, expect more fireworks, purely because of the strength of the two batting lineups.

India vs England: 3^rd ODI schedule and all you need to know.

When?

Sunday, January 22.

What time?

The match starts at 1.30pm IST, 8am GMT, 3am ET.

Where?

The final ODI of the series will be played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

What channels will be showing the 3^rd one-dayer live?

India: Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports HD3, Star Sports 3.

UK: Sky Sports 2.

Australia: Fox Sports 2.

New Zealand: Sky Sport 1.