Thursday, October 20, 2011

India Seal Series Glory


Ravindra Jadeja (L) And Mahendra Singh Dhoni Celebrate The Winning Runs

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed two fours in the final over as India beat England by five wickets to take a decisive 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.

Young batsman Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 91 and Gautam Gambhir hit 58 as the world champions surpassed England's challenging 4-298 with four balls to spare in a thrilling day-night match.

India were struggling at 5-235 in the 42nd over before Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja steered the hosts home with an unbeaten 65-run stand for the sixth wicket.

With 17 needed off the last two overs, the pair took 10 runs in the 49th bowled by Jade Dernbach, before Dhoni smashed the first two balls of the final over from Tim Bresnan for boundaries to clinch victory.

Dhoni returned unbeaten on 35 and Jadeja was on 26 as the new-look Indians, without seven players who won the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in April, took the series

When India batted, Rahane put on 79 for the first wicket with Parthiv Patel and 111 for the second with Gambhir to lift India to a comfortable 1-190 by the 34th over.

England hit back with four wickets for 45 runs as fast bowler Steven Finn removed Gambhir and Rahane, Bresnan dismissed Suresh Raina for zero and Graeme Swann trapped Virat Kohli lbw for 35.

But Dhoni and Jadeja turned the game around with a match-winning stand in front of 25,000 excited home fans.

"We back ourselves to chase whatever the opposition scored and we have been doing that for the past few years," said the India captain.

"The top order did the job for us. The dew was a factor because the ball started to come nicely on to the bat in the evening. The way Rahane batted with Gambhir was crucial.

The fourth one-dayer will be played in Mumbai on Sunday before the final game in Kolkata on October 25.

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