England finished a tough tour of India on an upbeat note, as they preserved their world No. 1 ranking in Twenty20 cricket with a hard-earned six-wicket victory in Kolkata. Steven Finn, with 3 for 22 in four fast and accurate overs, was England’s inspiration with the ball as they limited India’s powerful line-up to 120 for 9 after MS Dhoni had won the toss. Then it was over to Kevin Pietersen, who overcame an anxious start, and a fourth-ball life, to silence a raucous and expectant crowd with a blistering 53 from 39 balls.

Given how poorly England had fared in their 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series, they began the match on a hiding to nothing. However, from the moment they claimed two wickets in the first eight deliveries of the match, they were the team dictating the pace of the contest. Suresh Raina, with 39 from 29 balls, threatened for a time to restore the status quo, as did the Indian spinners who dominated the thrust of their attack. But when Raina dropped Pietersen at backward square leg off R Ashwin in the fifth over of the innings, India squandered the chance to ramp up the pressure that had led to England’s collapse of 10 for 47 on the same surface in Tuesday’s fifth ODI.

Pietersen’s response was far from instantaneous, however. Although he showed no ill-effects from the chipped thumb that ruled him out of the final ODI, the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja helped to limit him to 2 from his first nine balls before a stunning change of approach reaped the richest of dividends. In the space of his next three balls, he dropped to his knees to scoop Yusuf Pathan over his head for his first boundary of the innings, before flipping to a left-hander’s stance and butchering a perfect switch hit over the fence at what had been deep extra cover.

Craig Kieswetter had already fallen to a mistimed lofted drive off Jadeja, and when Alex Hales holed out to deep midwicket off Pathan, both of England’s openers had fallen with 40 runs on the board. However, Samit Patel’s combative hitting proved to be the ideal foil for Pietersen, and their 60-run stand from 46 balls broke the back of the run-chase. Patel played second-fiddle for much of their stand, not least when Pietersen pumped the last two balls of the eighth and nine overs for three fours and a six. But he was not averse to taking the aerial route himself, as he proved when he flogged Vinay Kumar into the stands at long-on.

Typically, the denouement was not without its alarms for England. With 100 on the board, Patel sliced Virat Kohli to cover to depart for 21, and one over later, Pietersen was also on his way – courtesy of a shocking lbw decision from umpire Sudhir Asnani, who was perhaps distracted by another change of stance from Pietersen when he put up his finger for a delivery that clearly pitched outside leg. However, Ravi Bopara got away with a plumb appeal in Raina’s next over, as he and Jonny Bairstow sealed the match with 10 balls to spare.

If nothing else, the victory – England’s first in any limited-overs match in India since 2002 – was due reward for an outstanding month’s work from Finn. By trusting in the same virtues of line, length and pace that had earned him eight wickets in the ODIs, he claimed the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane with the fourth ball of the match, courtesy of an outstanding one-handed pluck in front of first slip from Kieswetter, then later returned to remove two dangermen, Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, with consecutive deliveries.

Finn conceded three boundaries in his 24 deliveries, one to Virat Kohli when he overpitched in his first over, and two to Raina – a clean swipe for six, back down the ground, and a rare poor delivery on the pads when he returned to the attack to start the 12th over. The rest of the time, however, his rhythm and accuracy was unrelenting, and it was his key extraction of Raina, who cut loosely to backward point in Finn’s third over that was the pivotal moment of the innings. One ball later, Jadeja chopped on for a golden duck, and at 74 for 6 with eight overs remaining, India’s habitual acceleration was thwarted.

It wasn’t a one-man show from England’s bowlers, however. Tim Bresnan bounced back from a disappointing ODI series with a second-ball strike to remove Robin Uthappa for 1, and also cut short a threatening performance from Kohli, who had moved along to a run-a-ball 15 when Alex Hales on the deep midwicket boundary pulled off an excellent running catch inches inside the rope.

Graeme Swann’s struggles with the ball continued when Raina pumped him for 16 in his first over, but his captaincy was certainly on the ball. Patel fizzed through his first three overs for 13 and bowled a frustrated Manoj Tiwary when he attempted to slog his way out of a rut, while Bopara pulled off some impressive changes of pace to deliver a double-wicket maiden in the 17th over of the innings. Yusuf Pathan missed the change-up after two slower balls and was bowled; two balls later Praveen Kumar had a mow and went the same way.

MS Dhoni, inevitably, was on hand to provide some late resistance as he and Ashwin scalped 25 runs from India’s final two overs, but a run-a-ball chase was always within England’s grasp – even allowing for the depth of their failings on this most disappointing of one-day campaigns.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo

Indian spinners led by Ravindra Jadeja bowled out England for 176 to win the fifth and final ODI by 95 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Ravindra Jadeja was pick of the bowlers for India to start England’s downfall after the visitors got off to a great start. The left-arm spinner took four wickets by giving away 33 runs.

It all started when Jadeja dismissed Craig Kieswetter, Jonathan Trott and Jonny Bairstow in successive overs to put India on top.

Jadeja first trapped Kieswetter plumb in front of the wicket for the second breakthrough. Kieswetter hit a six and 9 fours in his 64-ball 63.

In his next over, Jadeja had Trott caught by Virat Kohli at first slip and in his next over Bairstow edged his delivery straight into the hands of Ajinkya Rahane at backward point.

Jadeja’s triple strike came after Varun Aaron clean bowled England skipper Alastair Cook, who hit 8 fours in his 61-ball 60.

R Ashwin gave India the third breakthrough when he had Ian Bell caught behind by captain MS Dhoni.

The England run chase got off to a great start with Kieswetter and Cook putting up an opening stand of 129 runs.

Cook and Kieswetter got off to a steady start chasing a target of 271 and didn’t seem to be in any kind of hurry.

Earlier, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 75 off 69 balls to power India to 271/8 in Kolkata on Tuesday.

England, hoping to avoid a 5-0 series whitewash after losing the first four games, grabbed wickets at regular intervals after skipper Alastair Cook asked India to bat in the day-night match.

India were reduced to 123-4 before Dhoni hit his way out of trouble, pounding four sixes and three boundaries, to help the world champions put up a challenging total on a sluggish wicket.

The late flourish led by the captain saw India plunder 84 runs in the last eight overs, including 39 off the final 12 balls.

Left-arm spinner Samit Patel claimed three for 57, while Steven Finn took 2-47.

Indian openers Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane put on 80 runs in 17 overs when England hit back with three wickets without a run being added.

Finn, England’s most impressive fast bowler in the series, bowled Gambhir (38) and the in-form Virat Kohli with the first and last deliveries of his sixth over.

In the next over, Tim Bresnan forced Rahane (42) to edge a ball to wicket-keeper Craig Kieswetter, who dived to his right to pick up a superb catch.

Kolkata local Manoj Tiwary, making his first appearance in the series in place of opener Parthiv Patel, scored 24 with the help of four boundaries when he was caught behind off Stuart Meaker.

Suresh Raina helped Dhoni lift the total to 162/4 in the 37th over, before he was run out for 38 by a direct throw from Ravi Bopara.

Patel dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in successive overs, but Dhoni stepped in to steer India to a competitive total.

England gave seasoned batsman Ian Bell his first game in the series in place of Kevin Pietersen, who has a fractured thumb.

Source: Times of India

England’s weakness against spin cost them for the third time in the series as they unravelled from a strong position to post an underwhelming total on a slow turning pitch. Their fast bowlers struck three early blows but Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina motored to a 131-run stand at close to seven an over, showcasing the difference between the sides and sparking another needless bout of words in the middle as England’s frustration overflowed.

It was England’s own batsmen who had let down their ragged bowlers down when they caved in against spin in the afternoon. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took 5 for 79 in 20 overs between them after Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen had built on England’s quickest start of the series.

After Vinay Kumar had broken the 73-run stand between Trott and an uncharacteristically subdued Pietersen, Jadeja and Ashwin worked their way through a clueless England middle order, striking thrice in six overs. Tim Bresnan took the score past 200 with a run-a-ball 45 but England were dismissed with 23 deliveries remaining when fast bowler Varun Aaron bowled Bresnan to finish with three wickets on debut.

Disciplined pace bowling led by the impressive Steven Finn kept England in with an outside chance at the start of the chase. Kohli and Raina kept the runs coming, though, not allowing the score of 46 for 3 to tie them down in a partnership that steadily at first, and then emphatically, pushed England out of the match, making a 5-0 whitewash a very distinct possibility.

Finn and Bresnan had started with testing spells that kept the India openers quiet. The first five overs produced only 17 runs, leading Parthiv Patel to whip across the line and lose his stumps to Finn. Finn struck again in his next over when Gautam Gambhir inside-edged onto his stumps. Finn’s opening spell of 5-0-10-2 was followed by a sharp burst from debutant Stuart Meaker that induced Ajinkya Rahane into a poke outside off stump only for wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter to take a leaping one-handed blinder.

Scott Borthwick, the young legspinner surprisingly chosen ahead of Grame Swann, bowled with heart, but it was unfair to expect him to have the same effect that the experienced Swann could have managed. Kohli and Raina continued almost unbothered, picking off the singles easily and finding the boundaries with crisp shots. The duo’s approach was in sharp contrast to England’s tottering line-up.

Despite India being three down at the start of the bowling Powerplay, Raina took the chance and chipped Meaker just over mid-off for a boundary. His innings grew into a blur of scythes through extra cover and swings down the ground before Finn bowled him after a missed slog. Raina had surged to 80 by then and with Kohli easing into elegant drives and cuts, India were runaway winners with almost ten overs remaining.

England’s fate had almost been sealed earlier when their middle order tried to sweep and slog-sweep their way out of trouble. Pietersen was one of three batsmen to fall on the shots, though the substitute fielder Manoj Tiwary was responsible for sending him back with a diving catch after running across from deep midwicket.

Ravi Bopara missed one from Jadeja to be caught in front and Jonny Bairstow’s disappointing series continued when he was bowled by a ripper that pitched on leg and turned to hit off stump. Samit Patel and Bresnan tried to salvage something from 145 for 6 but Patel slog-swept Ashwin straight to deep midwicket in another disappointing batting Powerplay for England.

Aaron, who had consistently hovered above 140 kph on debut, came back to run through the lower order, hitting the stumps thrice, the last of which was straightened past Bresnan’s outside edge to clip the top of off, with England well short of a challenging total on a turning pitch without Swann.

Things hadn’t looked as gloomy for England when Pietersen and Trott accumulated solidly in a steady partnership that helped them recover after Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter departed off successive deliveries. Though Pietersen went hard at deliveries and mistimed his strokes at times, Trott kept the runs flowing, cutting Jadeja three times to the deep point boundary. Trott welcomed Vinay’s second spell with a cracking drive that beat sweeper cover easily but was dismissed two deliveries later. Pietersen continued to find the field and the India spinners soon got on top decisively, yet again.

Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo

India took an unassailable 3-0 lead by inflicting a crushing five-wicket defeat on England in the third one-dayer at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Thursday.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (35*) and Ravindra Jadeja (26*) added 65 runs for the sixth wicket to take India to victory after they were in a spot of bother at 235/5.

With seven runs needed off the last over, Dhoni hit fours on the first two deliveries by Tim Bresnan to seal victory for India.

Graeme Swann trapped Virat Kohli plumb in front of the wicket as India lost their fifth wicket.

Kohli hit 5 fours in his 30-ball 35 before falling to Swann.

Ajinkya Rahane fell short of his maiden century by 9 runs as he mistimed a Steven Finn slower delivery into the hands of England captain Alastair Cook at mid-off.

Rahane hit 6 fours in his 104-ball 91.

In the next over, Suresh Raina hit a Tim Bresnan delivery staright into the hands of Kevin Pietersen at short extra cover. Raina failed to trouble the scorers.

Pietersen took a superb diving catch at point to dismiss Gautam Gambhir off Finn.

Gambhir hit a six and 3 fours in his 60-ball 58.

Ajinkya Rahane and Gambhir hit half-centuries as India crossed the 150-run mark with one wicket down.

Gambhir reached his 27th half-century off 53 balls with a six over long-off off Graeme Swann.

Gambhir brought up the 100-run partnership with Rahane off 91 balls.

Rahane hit his second half-century off 59 balls with the help of four hits to the fence.

Tim Bresnan gave England the first breakthrough when he trapped Parthiv Patel plumb in front of the wicket.

Patel hit 3 fours in his 46-ball 38 and put up a 79-run opening stand with Ajinkya Rahane.

Patel and Rahane brought up the Indian 50 in 9 overs as the hosts got off a good start in pursuit of 299-run target.

Earlier, Jonathan Trott’s unbeaten 98 and brisk half-centuries by Samit Patel and Kevin Pietersen powered England to 298/4.

Trott remained undefeated on 98 that came off 116 balls with the help of 8 hits to the fence.

Patel’s unbeaten 70 came off 43 balls and was studded with 2 sixes and 7 fours and he justified his promotion up the order ahead of Jonny Bairstow.

Trott and Patel added 103 runs off 71 balls for the fourth wicket and the stand came after Praveen Kumar clean bowled Ravi Bopara with a fantastic yorker.

Trott hit his fifteenth fifty soon after Ravindra Jadeja trapped Kevin Pietersen plumb in front of the wicket.

Pietersen hit a 61-ball 64 with the help of 9 fours and added 101 runs with Trott for the third wicket to revive England.

Virat Kohli gave India the second breakthrough when he scalped Craig Kieswetter to reduce the visitors to 53/2 in 12.1 overs.

Kieswetter, who scored 36 off 38 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes, attempted to squeeze it out to the off side but it took the inside edge and went onto rattle the stumps.

England again suffered an early jolt when seamer Vinay Kumar struck to dismiss skipper Alastair Cook.

Earlier, England skipper Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bat first against India. Both India and England retained the same sides from the first two games at Hyderabad and New Delhi.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar.

England: Alastair Cook (captain), Craig Kieswetter (wicketkeeper), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara, Jonathan Bairstow, Graeme Swann, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn.

Source: Times of India

Virat Kohli (112 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (84 not out) shared an unbeaten 209-run stand to steer India to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over England in the second one-day international at Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Monday.

With this thumping win, India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series against the visiting side.

Kohli completed another impressive century, his seventh in one-dayers, to lead the Indian run chase as they achieved the modest 238-run target in just 36.4 overs.

Kohli hit 16 boundaries in his 98-ball brilliant knock as he raced to his seventh ton in just 89 balls.

Gambhir played a perfect partner for flamboyant Kohli, as the left-hander himself played a gem of an innings off 90 balls and smashed ten boundaries.

India got off to a bad start as they lost openers Ajinkya Rahane (14) and Parthiv Patel (12) early.

Tim Bresnan struck twice in his successive overs to provide England early breakthroughs after visiting bowlers checked India’s run chase from the beginning.

Rahane was caught near the boundary rope while trying to hit two consecutive sixes in the seventh over. The right-hander hit a six and a four in his 15-ball cameo.

Earlier, pacer Vinay Kumar took 4 wickets for 30 runs to help India bundle out England for 237 on Monday.

Vinay led an impressive young Indian attack as they knocked off England top-orders cheaply to reduce the visitors to 121/5 in 25.2 overs. Umesh Yadav supported Vinay and Praveen Kumar well as a third paceman and took two English wickets for 50 runs.

Praveen started Indian attack by removing England skipper Alastair Cook for nought in the very first over. Vinay soon joined the party as he dismissed Craig Kieswetter (0), Jonathan Trott (34) inside the mandatory powerplay.

England failed to accelerate in the end as they lost their last five wickets for just 30 runs and were eventually bowled out in 48.2 overs.

Jonathan Bairstow (35) and Samit Patel (42) tried to revive England innings with a steady 86-run stand for the sixth wicket before both fall in quick succession.

Virat Kohli took a well timed catch at the boundary to dismiss Bairstow off Ravindra Jadeja in the 43rd over soon after Patel became Yadav’s second victim in the previous over.

Bairstow played a patient innings of 35 off 49 balls with the help three boundaries whereas Patel smacked two sixes and two fours in his 53-ball knock.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Yadav struck in the consecutive overs to give England double blow as they dismissed Ravi Bopara (36) and Kevin Pietersen (46) respectively.

Yadav increased England worries when Pietersen went for the drive but the ball took a faint outside edge off the bottom of the bat and Dhoni grabbed it behind the wickets soon after Ashwin broke a crucial 73-run fourth wicket partnership between them.

Indian seamers were on a roll as they removed England top three batsmen inside the mandatory powerplay to reduce the visitors to 48/3.

After losing two early wickets, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen tried to steady England innings as they added 48 runs third wicket stand. Trot lost his cool and got faint edge which went into the gloves of skipper MS Dhoni.

England started their innings on a bad note as they lost skipper Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter in the first two overs.

Praveen Kumar struck on the fourth delivery of the first over to remove Cook who attempted to hit over point but failed to get the elevation as Ravindra Jadeja made no mistake to pouch it.

Vinay Kumar joined his partner to give England another shock as he dismissed Craig Kieswetter to thump visitors to 0/2.

Earlier, England skipper Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bat against India. Both India and England have retained the same side which played the first ODI in Hyderabad.

Buoyed by the resounding 126-run triumph in the opening game, India will seek to maintain their supremacy against England in the second ODI with the focus on grooming the young brigade.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar.

England: Alastair Cook (captain), Craig Kieswetter (wicketkeeper), Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara, Jonathan Bairstow, Graeme Swann, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach.

Source: Times of India

MS Dhoni marked India’s homecoming with a brutal innings of 87 not out from 70 balls, before the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja sparked a dramatic English batting collapse, as the team that failed to win a single international fixture on their recent tour of England returned to form with a crushing 126-run victory at Hyderabad.

Dhoni’s performance was his fourth half-century in as many international innings, but whereas the last three had been insufficient to force victory, this performance was more reminiscent of his last performance in a home international – his crushing 91 not out in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in April.

After winning his first toss in six attempts against England, Dhoni chose to bat first on a slow surface, but India were struggling on 139 for 4 after 34 overs before he and Suresh Raina turned on the after-burners as a further 161 were added in the final third of the innings. As had regularly been the case in England, he started cautiously against a disciplined attack, and had reached 5 from 18 balls before belting his first boundary, from Ravi Bopara, to signal India’s late charge.

In total, Dhoni belted 10 fours and one six in his innings, the latter coming from a trademark helicopter flick off Steven Finn in the penultimate over of the innings. Finn had started his day’s work with impressive pace and accuracy, and should have had a first-over wicket when Jonathan Trott dropped a sitter off Ajinkya Rahane at second slip – a moment that only the 26,000 crowd were able to witness, thanks to a TV rights dispute that caused a three-over blackout. But Finn finished with the bruised figures of 1 for 67 in nine overs, with his solitary wicket that of Raina in his seventh over, moments after he had been battered for another six over long-on.

Raina, whose brutality against the full length ball was a sight to behold, crunched 61 from 55 balls, with both of his sixes coming from the final four balls of his innings. Like Dhoni, he had opted for circumspection in the early part of his stay, but the longer his 62-run stand for the fifth wicket continued, the more boisterous the Hyderabad crowd became.

It had been a more muted affair in the early part of India’s innings. Parthiv Patel was run out at the non-striker’s end for 9 as Finn fingertipped a Rahane drive onto the stumps, while Rahane himself had reached 15 from 41 balls when Graeme Swann dragged him out of his crease with his third delivery of the match to give Craig Kieswetter an easy stumping.

In his first match since recovering from concussion, Gautam Gambhir confirmed his fitness with a fluent 32 from 33 balls. However, Jade Dernbach’s liquorice allsorts proved hard to pick and tough to get away on the surface, and the slower ball that did for Gambhir was a beauty. It looped up above the batsman’s eyeline and dropped sharply to rap his shin in front of leg stump.

At 79 for 3 after 18 overs, the game was very much in the balance. However, England’s position could, and probably should, have been even better after 25 overs, when Samit Patel repeated Finn’s trick of dropping his fingertips on a straight drive. It was Raina this time who was in peril as the bails were dislodged, but after a lengthy delay for the TV adjudication, he was given the benefit of the doubt by the third umpire, Sudhir Ashani.

In the final analysis, however, it really didn’t matter. Though Alastair Cook continued his impressive form as England captain with 60 from 63 balls, his dismissal in the 23rd over of the innings precipated a dramatic collapse at the hands of Jadeja and R Ashin. England tumbled from 111 for 2 to 134 for 7 in the space of 40 balls, and only Samit Patel (16) and the No. 10, Finn, with a run a ball 18, provided any resistance.

Praveen Kumar, India’s star bowler from their ill-fated tour of England, had launched India’s defence in fine style, opening up with a maiden to Cook, and he had not conceded a run when he extracted Kieswetter with his eighth delivery, a full-length ball that jagged off the seam to take a thin edge through to Dhoni.

The loss of their top-order powerhitter caused England to rejig their conventional batting order, with Kevin Pietersen emerging at No. 3 ahead of the more staid Trott. The plan looked to be paying off as Pietersen launched his innings with ominous resolve, but having struck three fours in a 28-ball 19, he attempted a quick single to mid-on where Ashwin nailed him with a direct hit.

Trott then appeared at No. 4, and for 13.3 overs he and Cook steadied the innings, adding 71 for the third wicket to give England a solid platform. But then, having brought up his fifty at exactly a run a ball, Cook gave his innings away with a loose clip to deep midwicket off Ravindra Jadeja, and thwacked his pad with his bat in frustration as he left the crease.

Worse was to follow for England two overs later. Trott, whose 26 from 42 balls had been a typically measured performance, attempted an ungainly smear across the line against Jadeja and lost his leg stump, and eight balls later, Ravi Bopara drove loosely at Ashwin and chipped a simple return catch to the keeper.

Jadeja by now was on a roll with the crowd fully behind him, and he extended England’s collapse to four wickets in 26 balls when Jonny Bairstow, the hero of the run-chase in Cardiff, last month, also offered up a return catch. His figures after four overs were 3 for 17, and England’s unbeaten run against India in 2011 was soon all over.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo

Not even India’s first 300-plus total in 14 attempts against England could prove sufficient to win their first international fixture of a desperately one-sided tour, as the 21-year-old Yorkshire batsman Jonny Bairstow marked his international debut with a nerveless display of power-hitting under the floodlights at Cardiff. Chasing a revised target of 241 in 34 overs after a sequence of Duckworth-Lewis readjustments, Bairstow battered an extraordinary 41 from 21 balls, as England eased home with 10 balls to spare.

In a breathless performance, Bairstow struck the fifth ball of his international career for six over midwicket, and added two more and a four for good measure, as England marched up the mountain to complete their third victory of the series and their eighth in ten international matches against India this summer.

The denouement stole the thunder from Virat Kohli’s excellent 107 from 93, and also overshadowed the final ODI match of Rahul Dravid’s 344-match career. He signed off with 69 from 79 balls, and a handshake from every England player, but as had been the case all summer, he was powerless to stop a team on the rampage.

Such a dramatic turn of events had seemed unlikely at the halfway mark of the day, which was reached amid similar pyrotechnics, as India’s captain, MS Dhoni, slammed an even 50 from 26 balls to haul his team to an imposing total of 304 for 6. It was four runs more than they had managed in their final innings of the Test series, at The Oval back in August, and when two untimely rain-showers lopped 10 overs and only 34 runs off the chase, England’s task appeared to have been made all the more awkward.

But they approached their task with confidence from the outset. In damp conditions, but on a still firm deck, Craig Kieswetter struck four fours in his first 12 balls to motor along to 21 from 17, before he was adjudged lbw a delivery that looked to be sliding past leg stump, while Alastair Cook provided the ballast once again, skitting along to 50 from 54 balls to set England up for their late push.

Another rain delay in the tenth over forced another D/L readjustment, but not before the newly-crowned ICC Cricketer of the Year, Jonathan Trott, had slammed Munaf Patel straight back down towards the River Taff for the first six of his ODI career. Cook reached his fifty in a frenetic over from Kohli, which included – in consecutive deliveries – a reverse lap for four, a terrible dropped catch at backward square from Dravid, and a mow across the line that led to Cook’s middle stump being pegged back.

Trott might already have been caught at mid-off had Munaf not overstepped, and Munaf’s evening got even worse when he slipped in the outfield and limped off with a twisted ankle. But Trott by now was getting into the mood, and with Ian Bell alongside him, he laid into the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja, who was smacked for 1, 6, 1, 6, 1, 6 in a single over that went for 21 and catapulted England ahead of the D/L requirement.

The two men fell in consecutive overs – Bell holed out to long-off against RP Singh, before Jadeja gained a measure of revenge by removing Trott who slapped to point – but Bairstow’s arrival provided the carefree attitude that the situation required. At first, Ravi Bopara was unable to break the shackles to quite the same extent, but found his range as the target drew nearer, slogging RP Singh over deep fine leg for a top-edged six as he closed his series on 34 not out from 20 balls.

After winning the toss for the fifth match in a row, Cook’s decision to bowl first was influenced by the prospect of showers and evening dew, but England struggled for breakthroughs at the outset. Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane added 52 for the first wicket, and though Steven Finn kept the Powerplays in check with an excellent first spell of seven overs for 22, England’s fielding became notably ragged at key moments of the innings. Samit Patel dropped two bad catches, one at third man off Rahane to deny Finn a deserved early wicket, and England were once again indebted to the spin of Graeme Swann, who returned figures of 3 for 34 in nine overs to prevent the run-rate from getting completely out of hand.

It was Dravid and Kohli who turned on the style, slowly at first but with increasing poise as their partnership mounted. Jade Dernbach’s sixth over was dispatched for 15 as Kohli’s strong wrists and superb timing plundered his variations, before Patel was battered out of the attack with two fours over midwicket and a massive spring-loaded six over long-off. Though he slowed his tempo with his hundred in sight, he eventually turned Swann through square leg for a single to bring up his landmark from 87 deliveries, and was celebrating with jubilation before he had even completed the run.

One delivery later, Dravid’s ODI career was brought to an end as Swann tweaked one through his gate and into the top of off stump, and when Kohli trod on his own stumps while working a single through square leg, England had prised themselves an opening that Dhoni – the eventual Man of the Series – did his utmost to slam shut. But India’s defence was hampered by the absence of Praveen Kumar, who twisted his ankle while playing football in the warm-up, and without Munaf at the death, they simply had no answer to Bairstow’s brilliant onslaught.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo

Rain again stopped the fourth one-day international between India and England at Lord’s, with scores tied according to Duckworth-Lewis method on Sunday.

England lost two successive wickets of Ravi Bopara (96) and Graeme Swann (31) off Munaf Patel in the penultimate over to put the match in the balance when rain lashed the field again.

England were at 270/8 in 48.5 overs when match was stopped and the match will be declared tied if match fails to start.

Play was stopped by rain earlier too with England on 242/6 in 45 overs, chasing 281-run target and England were ahead by 2 runs according to the D/L method at that time.

RP Singh uprooted Tim Bresnan’s off-stump to give India a chance in the fourth one-dayer.

RP came round the wicket to get a different angle and fired in a full length ball to uproot Bresnan off-stump, who could have proved dangerous for India at the end.

Ben Stokes didn’t last for long when he played a flighted delivery straight into the hands of bowler, R Ashwin.

Before that the partnership between Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara looked threatening when Jadeja chipped in with the wicket of Bell.

Both Bell and Bopara were able to sneak in the ones and twos pretty easily and didn’t seem to be in any trouble playing the Indian bowlers.

Praveen Kumar’s patience paid off as he joined the party to get the wicket of Jonathan Trott. It was unfortunate on the part of Trott when he played on to his stumps trying to pull a short ball from Praveen Kumar.

RP Singh gave a solid start to India when he removed both the openers Craig Kieswetter and Alastair Cook.

RP is a changed bowler in the ongoing ODI series and gave India the right kind of start they needed from the bowlers upfront. He dismissed the dangerous Kieswetter when he charged down the wicket to hand a simple catch to Jadeja.

England captain Alastair Cook fell prey to RP in his next over when he slashed hard straight into the hands of Virat Kohli standing at silly-point.

While, Suresh Raina hit 84 as India made 280-5 off their 50 overs after being put in to bat in the fourth ODI.

Raina shared a stand of 169 with captain MS Dhoni (78 not out) which was the highest fifth wicket partnership for India in one-day internationals against England as India posted a challenging total.

Dhoni faced 71 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes, whilst Raina, who accelerated late in his innings faced 75 balls and hit seven fours and two sixes.

But it looked like it would be a different story when India were 110-4 in 26th over.

Graeme Swann had just dismissed Virat Kholi and Rahul Dravid in his first over and one more wicket would have exposed the Indian tail.

But Raina and Dhoni got their side to a score well above the average first innings one-day total with aggressive batting which delighted the hordes of Indian supporters at the ground.

They helped their side to add 109 off the last ten overs with both batsmen hitting the English bowlers high into stands as India finally enjoyed themselves after a dismal summer in England.

In a bad session for England Stuart Broad went off without completing the final over holding his arm and Steve Finn was called on to bowl the rest of the over.

Earlier, Broad had dismissed both openers Parthiv Patel for 27 and Ajinkya Rahane for 38 but Finn, playing his first match of the series, went wicketless despite bowling well.

He eventually snared Raina when he was asked to replace Broad when the batsman was superbly caught by Ben Stokes in the deep.

England lead the five-match series 2-0 with one no result and one match left to play, in Cardiff, on Friday.

Source: Times of India

England scraped to a three-wicket victory over India in the third One-day International and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the NatWest Series here.

It was a close finish for the hosts Friday after Indian spinners–Ravichandran Ashwin (3-40) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-42) — made them wobble by extracting spin and bounce from the track. But a sixth-wicket 60-run between Ravi Bopara (40) and Tim Bresnan revived England from a precarious 133 for five and put them close to their revised target of 218 from 43 overs following a one hour rain break.

Graeme Swann (9 not out) along with Stuart Broad took his side home. Swann hit a boundary to level the scores and followed it by a single to complete his side’s victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

England triumphed 4-0 in the test series, won the sole Twenty20 match and now lead 2-0 with two one-dayers left.

The hosts, choosing to field, quickly reduced India to 58/5 before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Jadeja steered their side to a fighting 234 for seven after James Anderson ripped through the visitors’ top-order.

India lost half their side for 58 but Dhoni (69) and Jadeja (78) forged a 112-run stand for the sixth wicket to save the embarrassment for a team looking for its first win on the tour. Ashwin smashed 36 off 19 balls towards the end as India collected 60 runs from the last five overs.

Anderson thrives when the ball is swinging and the green-looking Oval pitch, combined with overcast conditions, provided him the opportunity of testing the makeshift opening pair of Parthiv Patel (3) and Ajinkya Rahane (0).

Both had been amongst the runs in the previous games but were found wanting against the swinging ball.

Rahane departed in the first over of the match as he edged an away going Anderson delivery to first slip where Jonathan Trott did the rest. The four-ball duck was Rahane’s first failure on the tour.

A Rahul Dravid (2) run out in the fifth over did not help the cause and the dismissals of Patel and Virat Kohli (7) soon after, left India reeling at 25 for four in 10.2 overs.

Suresh Raina (21) was out to a bad shot and the Indian batting collapse looked very much on the cards with score being 58 for five in 19 overs.

But Jadeja and Dhoni steadied the ship and batted for the next 25 overs to give India a chance in the match.

Jadeja, playing his first match of the tour, struck 10 fours in his 89-ball knock while Dhoni hit five boundaries in what was a very patient innings.

Source: Yahoo Cricket

Craig Kieswetter tore into India’s opening bowlers and Alastair Cook made a case for a Twenty20 berth with an effective 80 not out that brought England a cantering victory which hadn’t seemed as likely when the visitors posted an imposing total. England exploited the lack of depth and predictability of India’s four-man bowling attack, compounded by their specialist spinner having a relative off day while England’s snared three key wickets.

It meant that another solid Ajinkya Rahane effort that displayed his enormous potential went in vain – the second time in three international innings that he has made a half-century and ended up on the losing side.

England’s richer bowling stocks allowed them to go a batsman short into a game reduced to 23 overs per side after rain ruined the afternoon for the patient Southampton crowd. It turned out that the extra batsman wasn’t required after Kieswetter’s assault at the top left England needing 121 off 100 deliveries by the time he fell.

India’s seamers rely on movement, there wasn’t much available and the medium pace of Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar proved ideal for Kieswetter as he flayed them for boundaries through the off side. Contrary to his reputation, Cook wasn’t far behind Kieswetter as he began with consecutive boundaries off Praveen.

As he often does in the IPL, MS Dhoni turned to the offspin of R Ashwin in the fifth over. However, this wasn’t the heat of Chennai; it was the biting cold of a chilly Southampton evening and Ashwin was lifted over long-on for consecutive sixes by Kieswetter. He had galloped to 46 off 25 deliveries before being trapped leg-before by a Vinay inswinger but he had brought down the required rate by almost a run an over.

It was a situation that allowed Cook to settle in for the night as Dhoni was forced to use his part-timers to make up for the lack of a fifth bowler. Ian Bell, coming in at No. 3, made Cook’s task easier with a delicious little innings that showcased his ability to ping the gaps on the off side without fuss. By the time Bell hit one to extra cover off Ashwin, the asking-rate had fallen below seven.

Cook grew in confidence and even slammed Ashwin over deep midwicket for only his second six in ODIs. There was no dislodging him even in a shortened game once he had decided to see England through and it meant that there was to be no glory for contrasting efforts from Rahane and Suresh Raina earlier.

There was nothing in Rahane’s approach or stroke-making that reminded one of the crudities of the shortest format in a game reduced to almost Twenty20 length. Having watched a marauding Parthiv Patel allow him only two balls of the strike in the opening 20 deliveries, Rahane took charge after his opening partner’s dismissal in a 79-run second-wicket stand with Rahul Dravid that set the platform for Raina to take off from.

While Rahane served further notice of his talent, Raina showed just why he is a transformed batsman in coloured clothing, using his favourite swing over cow corner to lift India from 125 to 182 in the space of 30 deliveries. He mostly faced Jade Dernbach’s slower ones and wasn’t tested by the short delivery, a tactic Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan were prone to using against the Indian top order, which countered them with spunk.

When Broad – who had got him caught on the pull at long leg in the first ODI – dropped it short, Rahane launched him high over the deep midwicket boundary. He lifted the spinners straight down the ground, the highlight being a straight-batted loft on the up against Samit Patel before he chipped one straight back to the combative Swann.

Dravid middled almost every delivery he played but as has often been the case with him in limited-overs cricket, elegant drives raced straight to extra cover, ferocious pulls flew to deep square leg and industrious glides found point.

Parthiv had blazed away at the start, favouring the pull and the cut to collect 26 off Bresnan’s opening two overs. Anderson, however, had Parthiv throwing his bat at a short and wide one only to feather it behind, a touch so faint that HotSpot failed to pick it, again, though Snicko didn’t.

Rahane and Raina ensured that India capitalised on the kickstart that Parthiv provided, but Kieswetter and Cook were too good on the night.

Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo