England leave India with a win 5th ODI

5THODI: Bell strikes hundred on Dharamsala's ODI debut.

In a cold town in the foothills of the Himalayas, England’s tour of India ended with a win. The beautiful HPCA sports ground at Dharamsala was making its ODI debut today. The mood was light. The pace of the pastime was relaxed. The jumpers, ski caps and mufflers were out. The sequence had been settled in Mohali. And another Indian batting collapse allowed England the comfort of a small target of 228.

Ian Bell ended a mixed bag tour by means of an unbeaten 113 – his highest ODI score away. With Alastair Cook, Joe Root with Eoin Morgan rallying around him usefully, the target proved no great shake despite the run-a-ball rate needed towards the finish of the game.

Tim Bresnan, who’d struggle with his lines through the series, led the wicket-takers in the game with 4-45. But it was Steven Finn and James Tredwell who controlled the game magnificently with their irritating accuracy. If anything England would want to perk up on in this game, it would be their catching.

RAINA SHINES AGAIN

Raina notched up his fourth as the crow flies fifty of the series.

Suresh Raina rescue India with his fourth fifty in four outings in the series. His partnership of 78 with Ravindra Jadeja put India on the repair after their top-order had been blow away cheaply.

Raina was missed by Tredwell at slip when he be on five, and then by Cook on 61. Tredwell also missed a difficult go back catch off Jadeja while Samit Patel put down a much easier one late in the innings off Shami Ahmed. Some of these misses, mattered, some didn’t since the new ball had complete most of the work for England.

Before one had put left through the first cup of coffee this morning, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh had dead, all for one scoring stroke between the three of them. Rohit and Virat chase outswingers from Bresnan while Yuvraj tried to play a swinging ball from Finn towards mid-wicket.

Gautam Gambhir, who hasn’t made a big achieve all winter, hung around for 24 before cutting Tredwell in the air to point’s hand. The off-colour left-hander is at the end of his rope, and if he is chosen for the future Tests against Australia, he should buy himself a game of chance ticket.

What broke India’s back be the wicket of MS Dhoni, courtesy an in-swinger from Finn that hit him in front of middle and leg. With a number of luck, Jadeja and Raina mended the innings.

The highlight of the company was their waiting for loose balls from the spinners. They stepped down the wicket and empty the sight-screen each occasion Tredwell, Patel and Root toss the ball up. The footwork, timing of the drives and the distances they flew earned the approval of Sourav Ganguly, who knows a thing or two about grueling spinners.

There was a refreshing cameo at the end by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. We knew he has made some tall scores in home cricket, but it was good to see the young seamer come out to slap the bowlers around for a crazy 30 in the slog overs.

At the end of it all, the world’s No. 1 and 2 would like to see if they’ve lived up to their billing. England leave India have enhanced their reputation as players of spin bowling. They scored a marker win in the Tests, lost the ODIs, but as Dhoni pointed out after the game, it was a taut series that hinged on one or two key moments – Pietersen’s caught-behind in Ranchi, for instance. Tredwell filled in beautifully for Graeme Swann and Finn show he is a great long-term prospect.

For India, Bhuvaneshwar plus Shami sustained to bowl economically, but the great relief was to see Ishant Sharma get a grasp of his line and length as a first-change bowler. The bat continues to be a worry. The openers are out of form, Virat Kohli too is in a rut, and Yuvraj has tended to excel only when the going’s good. It’d be attractive to see how India prepare for their batting evils when Australia come visit next month.