India clinched the ODI series against England with the help of a comfortable 5 wicket win in the 4th ODI played at Mohali and lead the series 3-1 with one more game to be played. The game witnessed some all-around batting and bowling performances from both the teams but at the end of the day the England bowlers were outclassed by some strong batting performances by Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.
Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina lead India to ODI series win
After winning the toss MS Dhoni opted to field first and surprised many by bringing in Rohit Sharma in place of Ajinkya Rahane while Butler replaced Keiswetter for England. Put in to bat, England scored 257 for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. Thanks to some lusty blows from Kevin Pietersen and young Joe Root’s maiden ODI half century at the end with which the England made 100 of the last 10 overs. Though Ian Bell was out for just 10, it was Captain Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen who took the game from 37-1 to 132-2 when Cook was trapped lbw by Ashwin for 76 runs. Eoin Morgan followed Cook quickly in the very next over bowled by Ashwin for just 3 runs. Samit Patel too didn’t last long as he got out for just 1 run. Then Pietersen and Joe Root added some quick fire runs and gave England a respectable total of 257. Pietersen made 76 and was the top scorer for England along with Alastair Cook. Ravindra Jadeja once again was amongst the wickets, picking up 3 wickets while Ashwin and Ishant picked up 2.
Surprise pick Rohit Sharma opened the Indian innings along with Gautam Gambhir and proved the worth of his selection by a well made 83 runs. India started their chase by loosing Gambhir early in the innings for just 10. Virat Kohli who returned to form with a Man of the Match performance in the last match got out for 26 and involved in a 50 run stand along with Rohit Sharma. Yuvraj Singh – the local boy of Mohali failed to entertain the crowd and was troubled once again by James Tredwell as he got his wicket for the 4th consecutive time. Suresh Raina joined Rohit Sharma and built a 68 run partnership for the 4th wicket before Rohit Sharma got out for 83 runs. MS Dhoni couldn’t bat through the innings this time as he could manage only 19 runs. Suresh Raina on the other hand was cruising to finish things off and completed his 3rd half century of this series. Ravindra Jadeja scored the winning runs in the 48th over as India successfully chased the target by 5 wickets. For his fantastic knock, Suresh Raina was awarded the Man of the Match. The England bowling had nothing much to do yet 2 wickets for Tredwell, and a wicket each for Dernbach, Bresnan and Finn. The game also saw many dropped catches of players from both the sides.
The 5th and the final dead rubber ODI will be played in Dharamshala on Sunday.
Tags: Cricket, England, India, Mohali, ODI Series, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina
