Mumbai, Oct 23: India romped to a 4-0 lead in the five-match ODI series against England after they beat the visitors yet again at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai today. After England posted a sub-par score of 220, India went past the victory target, despite an initial hiccup, with six wickets to spare.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, England struggled to come to terms with a Wankhede wicket that offered significant assistance to the Indian spinners. The visitors’ woes began immediately after Alastair Cook (10) and Craig Kieswetter (29) fell off successive deliveries to R Ashwin and Praveen Kumar in similar fashion (lbw) with the score at 39.
A 73-run partnership followed between Jonathan Trott (39) and Kevin Pietersen (41) but once those two were dismissed, a familiar tale followed for England. Following Trott’s dismissal (bowled Vinay Kumar) at 112, the visitors completely lost their way, losing their next seven wickets for another 108 runs. That they managed a score of 220 was owing to a significant lower order contribution from Tim Bresnan (45 off 45 balls).
For India, R Ashwin was at his incisive best with figures of three for 38 while Ravindra Jadeja continued his good form in the series with two wickets from his 10 overs. Another big plus for India was the performance by debutant Varun Aaron. With England stumbling their way past 200, Aaron, bowling regularly at 140 kmph plus, dismissed the last three batsmen, including Bresnan, to restrict England to a score of 220.
India, in reply, had a bit off an edgy start as they lost three top order wickets in quick succession. Steven Finn knocked over Parthiv Patel (8) and Gautam Gambhir (1) while medium-pacer Stuart Meaker had Ajinkya Rahane (20) caught behind by wicketkeeper Kieswetter to leave the hosts in some kind of trouble at 46 for three in 13.5 overs.
However, India managed to recover as Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina struck an impressive 131-run stand for the fourth wicket. Raina was the more imposing of the two batsmen as he bludgeoned the England attack, scoring 80 off just 62 deliveries. Following his dismissal in the 33rd over, Virat Kohli (86*) and MS Dhoni (15*) steered India past England’s score in the 41st over of the Indian innings.
The fifth and final ODI between the two sides will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the 25th of October.
Brief Scores – India 223/4 in 40.1 overs (Virat Kohli 86*, Suresh Raina 80, Steven Finn 3/45) beat England 220 all out in 46.1 overs (Tim Bresnan 45, Kevin Pietersen 41, Varun Aaron 3/24, R Ashwin 3/38) by six wickets
Man-of-the-match: Suresh Raina for his blustery 80 off just 62 deliveries (12x4)
