Kolkata, Oct 25: India beat England by 95 runs to register a clean sweep in the five-match ODI series here at the Eden Gardens powered by an inspired performance from skipper MS Dhoni and a Ravindra Jadeja four-for. Chasing 272 runs in what was their last opportunity to register a win, the visitors failed to use the 129-run platform set by Alastair Cook and Criag Kieswetter and were bundled out for 176 in 37 overs.
Having been bounced out by hosts England earlier in the summer, the Men-in-Blue have achieved a similar feat by whitewashing their opponents on home soil.
Losing 10 wickets for 47 runs in the chase, England once again failed to build partnerships. Speedster Varun Aaron got India their first breakthrough by claiming Cook’s off-stump. In the next over, Ravindra Jadeja, who has been a useful all-rounder in the series, trapped the England wicketkeeper Kieswetter lbw.
Ian Bell, playing his first game of the series, edged R Ashwin to Dhoni to bring India decidedly back in the game. Jonathan Trott (5) was the next to walk back after edging Jadeja and finding the safe hands of Virat Kohli in the slips.
Jadeja removed Jonathan Bairstow in his following over to wreak more damage. Cashing in on the England batsmen’s inability to negotiate spin, Dhoni brought in spinners from both ends. He introduced Suresh Raina into the attack and brought back Manoj Tiwary who had an expensive first over.
When Raina claimed the wicket of Ravi Bopara, England were tottering at 155 for the loss of six wickets. The visitors, at this point, would have were missed the services of the injured Kevin Pietersen.
In the very next over, Bresnan played a loose shot to fall to Tiwary exposing the England tail. After Jadeja sent back Samit Patel to finish with a four-for, Ashwin dismissed Steve Finn and Stuart Meaker in the following over to wrap up the match.
Earlier, asked to bat by Cook in a departure from the England strategy so far in the series, the Indian openers played watchfully for an 80-run opening stand. Gautam Gambhir, who opened the innings with Ajinkya Rahane, was castled by Finn for 37 runs. Bowling a maiden, the 22-year-old, who has been the pick of the England bowlers throughout the series, claimed the prized wicket of Kohli off the last ball of the same over.
With the score still on 80, Rahane edged Bresnan to the wicketkeeper to depart for 42. After a watchful and well-compiled innings, the opener was unfortunate to miss out on another big score.
Claiming three wickets without giving away a single run, the English bowlers were back in the game and managed to tie down the Indian batsmen despite poor fielding and dropped catches.
With two new batsmen – Manoj Tiwary and Suresh Raina – at the crease, the visitors were in control of the innings. The duo put their heads down to put on a 43-run partnership until the local boy, Tiwary, was dismissed by Meaker. A direct hit from Bopara at square-leg then sent back Raina for 38 runs.
But with the in-form Indian captain still at the crease, India wrested the advantage away from England.
Remaining unbeaten for the third time in the series, the skipper played a special innings. Coming in to bat with more than half the overs gone and only 127 runs on the board, Dhoni anchored the Indian innings playing the patient game for the first few overs before launching the counter-attack. Dhoni smashed four sixes and three boundaries during his 69-ball knock of 75.
Sharing identical 44-run stands for the sixth and eighth wicket, first with Ravindra Jadeja and later with Praveen Kumar, the skipper brought India back into the game. In the last 10 overs, the Indian batsmen, led by the captain, smashed the England bowlers for 91 runs, 37 of them coming off the last two overs.
Back in the side after being rested in Mumbai, tweaker Graeme Swann (45 runs in eight overs) failed to put on breaks as the Indians plundered runs. Meaker was hammered for 21 runs in the penultimate over of the innings while the last over by Patel cost the visitors 16 runs. In the quest to accelerate the run rate, however, India lost the wickets of Jadeja, R Ashwin and Praveen Kumar.
Brief scores: India 271/8 in 50 overs (MS Dhoni 75*, A Rahane 42, S Finn 2/47, S Patel 3/57) beat England 176 all out in 37 overs (C Kieswetter 63, A Cook 60, R Jadeja 4/33, R Ashwin 3/28) by 95 runs.
Man-of-the-Match: Ravindra Jadeja for claiming a four-for.
Man-of-the-Series: MS Dhoni for his leadership and all round performance (212 runs with the bat).
