Virat Kohli had few complaints about India's performance against England on Friday, acknowledging Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow "blew us away".
India set England 337 to win and level the three-match ODI series, a total the tourists sped to carried by Stokes and Bairstow.
While opener Bairstow contributed 124, Stokes stole the show with 99 off just 52 balls - including 49 off the next 11 after reaching his half-century. He has averaged 56.4 over 42 ODI innings since the start of 2017.
The stand of 175 - after Bairstow and Jason Roy had put on 110 for the first wicket - saw England have two hundred partnerships in the same ODI for the first time since the Cricket World Cup in June 2019.
Although Stokes and Bairstow fell in consecutive overs and briefly gave India hope, Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone completed a six-wicket triumph with 39 balls to spare.
"I think we set up quite a decent total on the board," said captain Kohli, who scored 66 and remains one century shy of Sachin Tendulkar's record of 20 in men's ODIs in India.
"But England found a way to get that 100-run partnership and we hardly had any chances come our way.
"I thought they batted brilliantly well tonight. Yes, we did not execute some things as well as we wanted to, but that was some of the most amazing batting that you're going to see while chasing a total.
"You have to give credit where it's due and tonight they totally blew us away with that partnership of Jonny and Ben Stokes.
"We didn't even have a chance, that's how good they were together and they thoroughly deserved to win."
Bairstow has 20 sixes over his past three ODI innings against India and no England batsman has more maximums against them in this format than his 26.
The Yorkshire wicketkeeper was enthused by Kohli's praise, responding: "I'll take that! It's very kind of him to say that.
"He's been one of the best players around the world for a period of time. I'm very pleased, and likewise, pleased to be striking the ball the way I am at the moment."
Bairstow and Roy now have 13 century stands together, the most by an England pairing, while no opening partnership in men's ODIs can top their average of 61.6 (from 20 innings or more).
It is certainly a role Bairstow is enjoying, as he added: "I'm happy. Since opening the batting, I've got 11 [centuries], I think I've only opened 56, 57 times.
"I'm happy with those figures but those figures mean nothing if you don't keep converting them in the future. I'm happy with how I'm playing my cricket at the moment, really enjoying it."
Leeds United 4-0 Norwich City (4-0 agg): Whites book Wembley spot in emphatic fashion
Leeds United thumped Norwich City 4-0 in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final to seal their place at Wembley.
After a goalless draw in the first leg left it all to play for at Elland Road on Thursday, Leeds turned on the style in front of a raucous home crowd to cruise into the final on May 26.
Ilia Gruev settled the majority of Elland Road's nerves with just seven minutes played as he caught out Angus Gunn with a long-range free-kick, curling into the space vacated by the Norwich goalkeeper's expectation of a cross.
Joel Piroe then doubled the hosts' advantage 13 minutes later, again capitalising on poor goalkeeping to beat Gunn to Wilfried Gnonto's cross and nod home.
The tie was effectively over five minutes from half-time, Georginio Rutter getting on the end of Crysencio Summerville's squared pass to rifle off the underside of the crossbar and in.
And after Gunn spilled Gnonto's low shot in the second half, Rutter cut the ball back for Summerville to poke home and secure Leeds' place in next Sunday's final, where they will meet either Southampton or West Brom.
Data debrief
Leeds may have looked pretty blunt in attack at Carrow Road, but that was far from the case on home soil as they put the Canaries to the sword in brutal fashion while keeping a 21st Championship clean sheet this season, more than any other side.
Daniel Farke's men produced 2.45 xG (expected goals) to Norwich's 0.51, while Summerville made it 20 league goals for the season, more than any other Leeds player.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Warm-Up matches confirmed
The official warm-up match fixtures for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 have been announced. Matches are scheduled to be played from Monday 27 May to Saturday 1 June across the USA and at two venues in Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies.
The venues to host the 16 warm up matches are the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas; Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida and Queen’s Park Oval and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
Warm-up fixtures will be 20 overs per side and will not carry international T20 status as teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-player squad. In a change from the previous rights cycle, teams will now have the option of playing up to two warm-up matches depending on arrival time at the event.
The West Indies against Australia fixture at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday 30 May will be open to fans, tickets will be available at tickets.t20worldcup.com or box offices located at the National Cricket Centre and Queen’s Park Oval from 16 May.
Warm-up match schedule:
Monday 27 May
Canada v Nepal, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30
Oman v Papua New Guinea, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 15h00
Namibia v Uganda, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00
Tuesday 28 May
Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30
Bangladesh v USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30
Australia v Namibia, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00
Wednesday 29 May
South Africa intra-squad, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30
Afghanistan v Oman, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 13h00
Thursday 30 May
Nepal v USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 10h30
Scotland v Uganda, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 10h30
Netherlands v Canada, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Grand Prairie, Texas 15h00
Namibia v Papua New Guinea, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago 15h00
West Indies v Australia, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 19h00
Friday 31 May
Ireland v Sri Lanka, Broward County Stadium, Broward County, Florida 10h30
Scotland v Afghanistan, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago 10h30
Saturday 1 June
Bangladesh v India, Venue TBC USA
IPL: Washout confirms SRH play-off place
Sunrisers Hyderabad are into the Indian Premier League play-offs despite their game against Gujarat Titans being abandoned without even doing the toss due to rain.
SRH move onto 15 points, with one game remaining, but are now ensured a top-four finish for the first time since 2020.
Their top-two hopes have taken a hit though – they have to beat Punjab Kings in their final game and hope Rajasthan Royals lose to Kolkata Knights Riders to finish second.
The Titans were already out of play-off contention after their previous game against KKR was also called off due to a heavy storm without hitting a ball. They finish their season currently third from bottom, though that could change depending on results in the final few matches.
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