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India signed off their nightmarish tour of England without a win as they were spanked by six wickets in the rain-marred fifth and final one-dayer bringing a disappointing end to veteran Rahul Dravid’s illustrious ODI career here.
Put into bat, India rode on a fluent century from Virat Kohli (107) and substantial contributions from Dravid (69) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out) to post an impressive 304 for six on a batting-friendly Sophia Gardens pitch here on Friday.
Chasing the challenging target and their innings interrupted by intermittent rain, England were 166 for four in the 26th over but recovered to race to the revised target of 241 from 34 overs with 10 balls to spare. The hosts won the series 3-0 after one match was rained out and another ended in a tie.
Jonathan Trott (63) and captain Alastair Cook (50) were the main contributors in the successful chase.
Debutant Jonny Bairstow and Ravi Bopara, who knocked off the winning runs, also chipped in with unbeaten knocks of 41 and 37 respectively.
The target was revised twice earlier as the start of England run chase was delayed due to rain. First it was revised to 295 from 47 overs and then to 270 from 40 overs. It was finally set at 241 from 34 overs and England reached the target comfortably.
India appeared to have got back into the game when they picked out Bell and Trott within a space of six runs. Bell hit out straight to long-off after making 26 off 21 balls with two sixes and Trott hit straight to point-cover, scoring 63 off 60 balls with three fours and two sixes.
England were now 166 for 4 in the 26th over, still needing 75 runs off 50 balls.
But debutant Jonathan Bairstow made it a cakewalk for England with some stunning shots. The youngster was almost savage in his attack and showed no nerves in smashing 41 runs off 21 balls with one four and three sixes.
Even though his partner Ravi Bopara was not a slouch himself, scoring 37 runs off 22 balls, it was Bairstow’s brutality which broke Indians’ spirit. The two put on 75 runs for the unseparated fifth wicket off only 40 balls.
Brief Score
India: 304 for six in 50 overs (V Kohli 107, R Dravid 69; MS Dhoni 50 n. o; Graeme Swann 3 for 34) lost to England: 241 for four 32.2 overs (J Trott 63, A Cook 50; R Vinay Kumar 1 for 42) by 6 wickets.
‘Injuries, bad luck undid us’
Thoroughly outplayed in both the Tests and ODIs, Indian captain MS Dhoni said the miserable tour of England was all about adjusting to shock injuries that pushed his team on the backfoot and dealing with a wretched run of bad luck.
In final assessment, Dhoni said injury to several key team members played a huge part in the debacle.
“I have not seen so many injuries in the last five years. To see 9-11 players get injured in one series has been shocking. In the ODI series we also did not have luck,” he said.
“If you look at the first two Tests, we were left with three bowlers. If your bowling starts looking weak, the pressure piles on batsmen. You cannot carry a team consistently on just one department.
Real test in India: Cook
England may have dominated India in the just-concluded series but ODI skipper Alastair Cook warns that the real test would be to repeat the performance when the side plays MS Dhoni’s men in their backyard next month. “We are going to need that over the next couple of months in the sub-continental conditions, where we haven’t played a huge amount of successful one-day. Our learning curve is goi ng to be steep, but I’m very confident in the players we’ve got,” Cook said.
India drop to 5th in ODI table
Their failure to win even a single match in the ODI series against England has led to world champions India dropping a couple of rungs to fifth, their lowest position in three years, in the latest ICC One-Day rankings issued on Saturday.
“It is MS Dhoni’s side’s lowest ranking since October 2008 when it spent three months at the number-five position to sum up a disappointing summer in England where it slipped from number-one position in the ICC Test Championship to third spot after losing all the four matches,” the ICC said in a statement.
India had entered the series in third position on 117 ratings points and finished on 112 ratings points after they lost the second, third and fifth ODIs while the first match at Chester-le-Street was washed-out and the fourth at Lord’s had ended in a tie.
In fact, India had slipped to fourth position after the third ODI at The Oval.
Put into bat, India rode on a fluent century from Virat Kohli (107) and substantial contributions from Dravid (69) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out) to post an impressive 304 for six on a batting-friendly Sophia Gardens pitch here on Friday.
Chasing the challenging target and their innings interrupted by intermittent rain, England were 166 for four in the 26th over but recovered to race to the revised target of 241 from 34 overs with 10 balls to spare. The hosts won the series 3-0 after one match was rained out and another ended in a tie.
Jonathan Trott (63) and captain Alastair Cook (50) were the main contributors in the successful chase.
Debutant Jonny Bairstow and Ravi Bopara, who knocked off the winning runs, also chipped in with unbeaten knocks of 41 and 37 respectively.
The target was revised twice earlier as the start of England run chase was delayed due to rain. First it was revised to 295 from 47 overs and then to 270 from 40 overs. It was finally set at 241 from 34 overs and England reached the target comfortably.
India appeared to have got back into the game when they picked out Bell and Trott within a space of six runs. Bell hit out straight to long-off after making 26 off 21 balls with two sixes and Trott hit straight to point-cover, scoring 63 off 60 balls with three fours and two sixes.
England were now 166 for 4 in the 26th over, still needing 75 runs off 50 balls.
But debutant Jonathan Bairstow made it a cakewalk for England with some stunning shots. The youngster was almost savage in his attack and showed no nerves in smashing 41 runs off 21 balls with one four and three sixes.
Even though his partner Ravi Bopara was not a slouch himself, scoring 37 runs off 22 balls, it was Bairstow’s brutality which broke Indians’ spirit. The two put on 75 runs for the unseparated fifth wicket off only 40 balls.
Brief Score
India: 304 for six in 50 overs (V Kohli 107, R Dravid 69; MS Dhoni 50 n. o; Graeme Swann 3 for 34) lost to England: 241 for four 32.2 overs (J Trott 63, A Cook 50; R Vinay Kumar 1 for 42) by 6 wickets.
‘Injuries, bad luck undid us’
Thoroughly outplayed in both the Tests and ODIs, Indian captain MS Dhoni said the miserable tour of England was all about adjusting to shock injuries that pushed his team on the backfoot and dealing with a wretched run of bad luck.
In final assessment, Dhoni said injury to several key team members played a huge part in the debacle.
“I have not seen so many injuries in the last five years. To see 9-11 players get injured in one series has been shocking. In the ODI series we also did not have luck,” he said.
“If you look at the first two Tests, we were left with three bowlers. If your bowling starts looking weak, the pressure piles on batsmen. You cannot carry a team consistently on just one department.
Real test in India: Cook
England may have dominated India in the just-concluded series but ODI skipper Alastair Cook warns that the real test would be to repeat the performance when the side plays MS Dhoni’s men in their backyard next month. “We are going to need that over the next couple of months in the sub-continental conditions, where we haven’t played a huge amount of successful one-day. Our learning curve is goi ng to be steep, but I’m very confident in the players we’ve got,” Cook said.
India drop to 5th in ODI table
Their failure to win even a single match in the ODI series against England has led to world champions India dropping a couple of rungs to fifth, their lowest position in three years, in the latest ICC One-Day rankings issued on Saturday.
“It is MS Dhoni’s side’s lowest ranking since October 2008 when it spent three months at the number-five position to sum up a disappointing summer in England where it slipped from number-one position in the ICC Test Championship to third spot after losing all the four matches,” the ICC said in a statement.
India had entered the series in third position on 117 ratings points and finished on 112 ratings points after they lost the second, third and fifth ODIs while the first match at Chester-le-Street was washed-out and the fourth at Lord’s had ended in a tie.
In fact, India had slipped to fourth position after the third ODI at The Oval.
