A perfect ending for the series in the scenic beauty of Dharamshala as India though lost the final ODI; wins the series 3-2 after a string of series losses. A relieved England as they end their disappointing ODI series with a deserving victory. Their batting and bowling department clicked well and defeated India by 7-wickets in the 5th and final ODI.
Ian Bell leads England to win; India take series 3-2
It was Alastair cook who won the toss this time and invited Indian captain MS Dhoni to Bat first and named Chris Woakes in place of Jade Dernbach. India went on with an unchanged side which won the previous game. Tim Bresnan’s double strike early in the innings pushed India into a deep trouble. He scalped the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in consecutive deliveries, both got out in same fashion, caught by James Tredwell at slip. Kohli was out for a first ball duck, Yuvraj Singh who followed next was out for a duck as well. Ian Bell took a good low catch to dismiss Gautam Gambhir for 24 bowled by James Tredwell. MS Dhoni too couldn’t stay for a while as he got out for 15 to Steve Finn and India were in a terrible position that time having scored just 79 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 22 overs. Then Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja lifted the team with their fantastic 78 run partnership in tough batting conditions and took the score to an extent when Tredwell strikes again by picking Jadeja in the powerplay. Suresh Raina continued his great run of form with his fourth consecutive half century in this series. The turning point of the match was when Raina got out in the 42nd over for 83. Had he been in the crease for a few more overs, probably till the end, the story might have been different. But, it was a brave and a fighting innings by Raina indeed! Bhuvneshwar Kumar and R Ashwin kept the bowlers busy and took India past 200. At the end of the innings India were bowled out for 226 , one could say that it was a decent come back considering 79-5 at one stage.
With 227 to win England openers Cook and Bell gave them a good start and raised the total to 50 in 11 overs. Ishant Sharma got the first breakthrough by knocking the middle stump of Alastair Cook for 22. Kevin Pietersen returned to pavilion soon after cook for a good running catch by Jadeja. Then in form Joe Root and Ian Bell won the game almost for England as they went on to record a 79 run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Eoin Morgan played some big shots at the end and remained unbeaten for a run-a-ball 40 along with Ian Bell who batted exceptionally well to get past 100. Centurion Bell scored the winning runs and gave England their 2nd win of this series. England thus ended the series by a comfortable 7 wicket win. The Indian bowlers had nothing to do in this game unlike the England bowlers. India though lost the match will be happy to win the series 3-2 after their disappointing Test series loss against England and ODI series against Pakistan.
Ian Bell was awarded the Man of the Match for his match winning century and Suresh Raina was the Man of the Series for his great run in this series (scored 277 runs at an average of 90 which includes 4 fifties). Both India and England have a reason to smile at the end of the series. A very rare scenario to see both the playing nations happy! A full stop to a very long series at last!
Tags: 5th ODI, Dharamshala, England, Ian Bell, India, ODI Series, Suresh Raina
