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Images: Cook spices up another England win
The Indian cricket team's nightmarish tour of England showed no signs of getting better. The injury-hit side went down by seven wickets in a rain-curtailed second One Day International in Southampton.
- 2nd ODI: Cook leads England to easy win over India
England rode on captain Alastair Cook's unbeaten 80-run knock while chasing a competitive 188 for victory in the 23-over-a-side match on Tuesday.
Cook led from the front, scoring his runs off 63 balls, to help England overhaul the target with five deliveries to spare.
Cook-Kieswetter give England flying start
England's run chase got off to a flier, with Cook and Craig Kieswetter putting on 67 runs for the opening wicket in no time.
But it was Kieswetter who got the chase off to a blistering start with a 25-ball 46, during which he hit four boundaries and three sixes.
Ian Bell (25 off 16) and Ravi Bopara (24 off 20) also made useful contributions in the home team's successful chase.
From the onset, Kieswetter was in murderous mood, as two of his three sixes came off Ashwin's opening over.
Kieswetter falls to Vinay Kumar
The Indian bowlers were sent on a leather hunt by Cook and Kieswetter as England raced to 50 in just five overs.
Kieswetter fell just four runs short of his half century, lbw to Vinay Kumar in the seventh over.
New-man in Bell, playing his 100th ODI, creamed off 25, inclusive of four fours, before holing out to Virat Kohli at short extra cover off Ashwin's bowling.
But England, already 100 up in the 10th over, were holding all the aces.
Cook-Bopara guide England home
The Indians were also hampered by the absence of a regular fifth bowler, as Kohli and Raina gave away 35 off their four overs.
After Bell's dismissal, Cook and Bopara put on 60 off 48 balls for the third wicket before the latter departed, caught by Kohli while trying to lift Ashwin over the cover.
But it hardly made any difference to the outcome of the match, as, by this time, England, at 162 for three in the 19th over, were already well on their way to an easy win.
Rahane notches first half-century
Off-spinner R Ashwin was the most successful Indian bowler, picking two wickets for 42 runs, while R Vinay Kumar (1/33) accounted for the other English wicket.
Earlier, young Ajinkya Rahane's maiden half-century and Suresh Raina's quickfire 40 helped India pile a competitive 187 for eight.
Sent in to bat after the match was reduced to 23-over-a-side due to persistent rain, India rode on Rahane (54 off 47), Raina, Rahul Dravid (32 off 31) and Parthiv Patel's (28 off 18) knocks to post what looked a huge total.
Parthiv stole the limelight
While Parthiv and Rahane yet again gave India a good start, it was Raina who provided a stirring finish to the visitor's innings with a fiery 40 that came off just 19 balls.
For England, Graeme Swann (3/33) and Tim Bresnan (3/43) shared six wickets among them.
Parthiv was particularly severe on Bresnan. After picking 10 runs off the first over, he hammered the pacer for two sixes and a four to pick 16 off his next.
However, the left-hander's cameo ended in the fourth over when he got a faint edge off James Anderson to Kieswetter behind the stumps.
Parthiv, who made 95 in the first ODI, hit three fours and two sixes during his adventurous stay at the crease.
Dravid joins Rahane to give impetus to India's innings
After Parthiv's dismissal, young Rahane and Dravid took the onus of keeping the run-rate up, as India put up 50 by the seventh over.
After the bright start, Rahane and Dravid shared 79 runs off just 68 balls for the second wicket.
Rahane was the aggressor among the duo and found the boundaries at will, while Dravid played the role of sheet-anchor dealing mostly in singles with occasional fours in between.
Rahane again batted delightfully, pulling and lofting England's bowlers at will.
India lose Dravid, Kohli in quick succession
Rahane's first shot was a pull off Stuart Broad that went back many rows over the mid-wicket fence.
When Broad pitched it up, he lofted him over extra cover. The right-hand batsman reached his half century from 40 balls, with five fours and a six, in the 16th over.
However, India lost Dravid an over before Rahane's personal landmark when the veteran batsman tried to slog-sweep Swann and was smartly caught at midwicket by Anderson.
India lost their third wicket in the 17th over when Virat Kohli (9) hoisted Swann into the hands of Bell at long-on.
Raina looked good for huge total
But Raina immediately made his presence felt when he smacked Dernbach straight into the long-on stands.
Rahane, well past his 50, sought a runner in the 19th over but the move didn't work as he fell soon, caught by Swann off his own bowling. He struck five fours and a six.
The Indians opted for two overs of batting Powerplay in the 20th over, with Raina and captain Dhoni at the crease and the scoreboard reading 144 for four.
It paid rich dividends as Raina hit Dernbach for a six and two fours to pick up 16 runs of the 20th over.
Dhoni couldn't do much
Dhoni (6) then slammed Bresnan for a four to the mid-wicket fence, but fell to the next ball while going for his trademark helicopter shot, caught by Bell in the deep.
England are now 1-0 up in the five-ODI series. The next match is at The Oval on Friday.
The first game at Chester-Le-Street was abandoned due to rain.