England finally secured victory over India at Leeds in the ODI series which finished 3-1 to the visitors. The 5th and final match- one was rained off- was a dead rubber but one in which England desperately needed to win after 3 thrashings to the hands of India. It seemed as if India were off the pace and were not that interested in a series which was already won.
India won the toss and elected to field on what seemed like a good batting track with a little bit of pace and bounce. England didn't get off the the best of starts, losing 2 wickets in the opening 10 overs with Hales falling to Yadav and Ali being dismissed off the bowling of B. Kumar. Captain Alistair Cook looked like he was finally getting some much needed runs at the top of the order but still looked scratchy with a couple of edges luckily going to the boundary. He fell again to spin on 46 with the score on 91 and Morgan fell shortly after to leave England 117-4 off 29 overs. He too met his downfall to spin, getting stumped off the bowling of Ashwin.
It looked like spin was going to be England's weakness yet again but Joe Root and Jos Buttler had other ideas. They were very positive against the bowling of Jadeja and Ashwin, something in which the rest of the batsman could take heed from. Root brought up his 2nd ODI hundred with a big 6 off Jadeja before he fell for 113. Mohammed Shami got a couple of late wickets with some solid death bowling but a late 33 off 23 balls from Ben Stokes took England to 294-7 off of their 50 overs.
India got off to the worst possible start with Rahane falling off the third ball of the innings to a poor shot, sliced to point. Kohli continued his shocking tour falling yet again to Anderson, edging a ball outside off. India moved along to 49-2 after Dhawan smashed Ali for 6 but he was dismissed in the same over, bowled trying to hit Ali out of the park. Ali again got a wicket, dismissing Raina to reduce India to 91-4. Ali has somehow been getting a lot of wickets on this tour, surprising as he does not seem at all special. His action is pretty average and he does not tend to spin the ball much, also his record is substandard in county cricket which is why his success is a mystery.
Rayudu played well for his 50 but he fell trying to hit Stokes over the top and when Dhoni was out to Finn, the match was all but over with India 173-6. Jadeja hit a fairly rapid half century with the game already lost and cashed in on this with some late runs, smashing his way to 87 from 68 before chopping on to Finn. India were dismissed for 253, 41 runs short.
This victory for England should not take away their weaknesses against spin displayed from this series. They have also been pretty poor in the bowling department and look miles away from a side who can challenge for a World Cup.
India on the other hand can be extremely pleased with their work from this series. They were a little off today but it really did not matter in the grand scheme of things. They looked strong in most departments throughout the series, although death bowling will still worry Dhoni. It could be argued that 9 players have all but cemented their place in the starting XI for the World Cup in a side that will be very hard to beat as they defend their crown in just 6 months time. As far as this tour is concerned, the last match takes place on Sunday in a one off T20 match.
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