India beat England; win series

India beat England in the third ODI to seal the series for the hosts. Batting first England scored a mighty 298/4 in their allotted 50 overs. India replied with an equally powerful performance by scoring 300/5 in 49.2 overs. With this win India has raised hopes of an English whitewash.

It was a well deserving victory for India as their batting was once again tested without the presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag. But equal credit should be given to the England batting who came up with a spirited performance when they were fighting to save the series.

Captain Cook failed with the bat once again. But the real stars of the huge England were Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Samit Patel. It was 70 run knock from only 43 balls that really lifted the visitors' score towards the 300 run mark.

The star for the Indian win was the young Ajinkya Rahane. He missed his maiden century in ODIs by only nine runs. Certainly it was the nervous nineties for him. He scored 91 runs in only 104 balls. He scored only six fours in the process. This shows how watchful he was chasing a target of 299.

He was ably supported by the opener Parthiv Patel and veteran Gautam Gambhir. Patel scored a watchful 38 from 46 balls. However, Gambhir scored a quick fire 58 in only 60 balls. Rahane shared two fruitful partnerships with both these batsmen which made the target achievable. When he was set for the century, he got out.

But it was the masterly act from the skipper M S Dhoni that guided India to victory. He along with Ravindra Jadeja ensured that the early fall of Suresh Raina did not hurt India a bit. It is almost a satisfying victory as India pocket the series.