England go 4-0 down as India seal victory in Mumbai
- Published
Fourth one-day international, Mumbai: |
India 223-4 (40.1 overs) beat England 220 (46.1 overs) by six wickets |
England went 4-0 down in the one-day series in India as half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina guided the hosts to an emphatic six-wicket win.
The tourists were all out for 220 in 46.1 overs, having slumped from 112-2 in the 22nd over in Mumbai.
Tim Bresnan top-scored with a gutsy run-a-ball 45 before becoming debutant paceman Varun Aaron's third victim.
India were 46-3, but Kohli (86 not out) and Raina (80) built a 131-run stand to help them win with 59 balls left.
After winning the toss, England's middle-order again suffered against spin on a slow, turning track and three of them lost their wickets from miscued sweep shots.
For the third time in the series, they failed to bat their allocation of 50 overs as Aaron unhinged the tail, finishing with 3-24.
And they were once again found wanting with the ball in the middle overs, with leg-spinner Scott Borthwick - handed his one-day debut in place of Graeme Swann - conceding 59 from his eight overs on a spin-friendly wicket.
It was a bad-blooded encounter, involving a series of heated exchanges, with the umpires having to intervene on a number of occasions.
England had been under pressure from the start, losing their openers early on - both lbw - in successive balls.
Captain Alastair Cook (10) was deceived by Ravichandran Ashwin, then Craig Kieswetter (29) played inside the line, leaving England 39-2 after 6.1 overs.
Jonathan Trott and Pietersen stabilised the innings with a 73-run stand in the next 15 overs, but four wickets followed for 33 runs as England lost their way.
Trott was bowled for 39 by a Vinay Kumar delivery that nipped back. Then the spinners worked their magic as Pietersen went for 41, when his mis-judged sweep off Ashwin was caught by substitute fielder Manoj Tiwary on the midwicket boundary.
Ravindra Jadeja quickly struck twice, first dismissing Ravi Bopara lbw for eight as he tried to sweep. Next, Jadeja turned one sharply to bowl Jonny Bairstow for nine, leaving him looking visibly startled.
After a period of re-building, Samit Patel was out for 14 in very similar fashion to Pietersen, meaning England were 192-7 with 10 overs remaining.
Bresnan was the only man to show the necessary application at the end of the innings, but he lacked support. Aaron bowled Borthwick and debutant Stuart Meaker cheaply then did the same to Bresnan.
England failed to take advantage of early strikes by Steven Finn, who bowled Parthiv Patel for eight and Gautam Gambhir for one to leave India 21-2.
Meaker - preferred to his Surrey team-mate Jade Dernbach - kept up the pressure by forcing an edge from Ajinkya Rahane (20) and Kieswetter took a brilliant catch.
Kohli and Raina wrestled control of the situation, although Kieswetter dropped Raina on 37 after a leg-side glance. Kohli played a cool and collected knock, complemented by Raina's dashing style to take the game away from England.
By the time Finn bowled Raina for 80 - sending the batsman on his way with some strong words - India were already well on their way to victory.
Kohli and captain Mahendra Dhoni then teamed up to finish the job under minimal pressure, leaving India with the chance of securing a 5-0 whitewash in the final match of the series on Tuesday.
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