 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Ajinkya Rahane scored his maiden One-Day International century as India trounced England by nine wickets in the fourth one-dayer to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, in Birmingham, on Tuesday.
It also earned the tourists their first 50-over series win on English soil in 24 years.
In the process, Mahendra Singh Dhoni became India's most successful ODI captain with 91 victories, surpassing Mohammad Azharuddin, who had 90 under his belt.
India last won a bilateral ODI series in England in 1990. Back then, they won both the matches in the two-match series -- at Leeds (by six wickets) and Nottingham (by five wickets).
At Edgbaston on Tuesday, opting to bowl, India restricted England to a modest 206 and then easily overhauled the target in 30.3 overs.
While Rahane destroyed the pedestrian English attack with a 100-ball 106, including 10 fours and four sixes, a woefully out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan (97 not out; 11x4s, 4x6s) re-discovered lost touch as the opening duo put on a 183-run partnership off 28.4 overs.
It was a dramatic turnaround for India after the shambolic 1-3 drubbing in the recent Test series, in which the batsmen struggled to cope up with the swinging ball.
Earlier, India’s bowlers produced a disciplined effort to dismiss England for a below par score.
Had Moeen Ali not come up with a fighting 67, the hosts may have been shot out with nothing much to defend.
Ali's second ODI fifty gave England's total a semblance of respectability as they were bundled out in 49.3 overs.
The English batsmen wasted a perfect first-use of a good batting surface as only three of them crossed the 20-run mark.
Ali faced 50 balls, hitting four boundaries and three sixes.
Mohammad Shami (3-28) ended up as India's best bowler on the day. He was ably supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-14) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-40). Ravichandran Ashwin (1-48) and Suresh Raina (1-36) were the other wicket-takers.
Dhawal Kulkarni, playing his first ODI, went wicket-less from seven overs for 35 runs.
India were forced to make a change after Mohit Sharma was declared unfit owing to his twisted-ankle in the last game, paving the way for Kulkarni.
England made three changes. Ian Bell, ruled out with a toe injury, was replaced by Gary Ballance, while James Tredwell and Ben Stokes made way for Ali and Harry Gurney respectively.
Check out some images from the match: