England in India – Series Review – Part Five
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, as both teams headed to the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in India for the final One Day International (ODI) of the five match series on Tuesday, October 25, 2011.
The hosts had won the first four matches of the series and were chasing a clean sweep against the same side, which crushed them recently in all three formats of the game.
It was interesting to see how things changed from country to country, as England looked completely unbeatable when they hosted a series against the Men in Blue. They are also rated as the number one team in ICC’s Test and Twenty20 rankings, but seem to be
struggling in the 50-over format.
On the other hand, India won the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World Cup 2011 and looked in a decent position to challenge the Poms on the British soil. However, they failed to do so and were criticised all over the world for their poor form and fitness.
India’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 was also questioned over his leadership skills, but the veteran responded strongly to the criticism, by cruising towards a 5-0 victory in a home series.
The most important thing for Dhoni was that he remained unbeaten throughout the series and won the player-of-the-series award for his consistent performances with the bat and behind the stumps.
The Indian team continued to deny the fact that they were seeking some sort of revenge over the opposition, but in reality they would have wanted this victory badly.
The hosts were put into bat in the final ODI of the series and they got off to a decent start, courtesy openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajinkya-Rahane-c970. Both batsmen played sensible cricket and collected 80 runs at the top of the order.
However, they were unable to make most of the start to their innings and were dismissed after scoring 38 and 42 respectively.
In form batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Manoj-Tiwary-c1890, who contributed 24 runs to the total before being dismissed.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SK-Raina-c2539 was the next man to be dismissed. He played a crucial part in the middle overs, collecting 38 runs for his side.
However, the star of the Indian innings was their skipper, who remained unbeaten until the end on 75 runs with the help of three fours and four sixes.
The veteran wicketkeeper batsman guided his side to 271 runs in the end.
England’s spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ST-Finn-c2566, who grabbed a couple of wickets.
The tourists had a terrible tour with the bat, especially at the top of the order. However, openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/C-Kieswetter-c1206 finally broke the shackles, scoring a century stand at the top of the order.
They put on 129 runs for the first wicket and got out for 60 and 63 respectively. The start had put the Poms in a dominant position, but their lower order failed to perform and the entire team was dismissed for 176 runs in 37 overs.
India’s spinners http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Ashwin-c2228 did a fabulous job, picking up four and three wickets respectively.
The outcome of the series clearly showed that England need to work extremely hard in order to get the top position in ODI cricket just like they did in Test and Twenty20.
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