England's batsmen fail again as India win

Cricket365
August 30, 2014

India won the third ODI against England at Trent Bridge by six wickets on Saturday, taking a two-nil series lead, as Ambhati Rayudu's 64 not out saw them to the 228 required in 43 overs.

England faltered to 227 all out, the last wicket falling with the final ball of the innings, and only got that score thanks to a James Tredwell cameo. India then made a steady chase, with most getting a solid score.

India won the toss and chose to field, anticipating swingy conditions given the cloud cover. But it was the spinners that did the job in the end, with Ravi Ashwin taking three wickets.

But initially England were quite solid, as Alex Hales and Alastair Cook put on 82 for the first wicket. Hales was the more aggressive scorer, while Cook was frustratingly defensive, which could have contributed to the rash shots later on.

Hales was the first to depart, having made 42 off 55 balls, as MS Dhoni's glovework became the highlight of the game. He caught Hales off Suresh Raina's bowling, and the all-rounder had another good game.

From there, Cook was stumped beautifully off Rayudu, giving him his first international wicket, and then Joe Root too found himself stumped by a focused Dhoni for two. Eoin Morgan was superbly caught behind too, for 10.

Raina's contribution extended to the slips, as he took a diving one-handed catch to send Ben Stokes packing. In between all these wickets, Jos Buttler tried to steady the ship, making 42 before being bowled by Ashwin.

Tredwell's 30 off 18 balls was the final flourish, and Chris Woakes added 15 as they made sure to avoid the embarrassment of a below-200 score, but it was never going to be enough on a decent batting deck.

India's chase was a steady one, with only Shikhar Dhawan really failing to capitalise. He was out for 16 to Woakes, but from there a string of 40s and Rayudu's half century saw the Indians coast along.

Even Virat Kohli, in dire form on this tour, managed to score some runs. He reached his best score of the trip, aside from warm-ups, as he recorded 40 off 50 balls. When he was out to Stokes, he was given a verbal send off by the England players, but he'll be the one laughing now.

England: A Cook, A Hales, I Bell, J Root, E Morgan, J Buttler, B Stokes, C Woakes, J Tredwell, S Finn, J Anderson

India: A Rahane, S Dhawan, V Kohli, A Rayudu, S Raina, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, Mohammed Shami, M Sharma