India bounced back emphatically from their test series humiliation to wrap up the series after winning the 4th ODI at Edgbaston on Tuesday, to go 3-0 with one to play. Some tight bowling from the seamers was also followed up by the high quality spin bowling that India possess as India restricted England to just 206 and a incredible opening stand by Rahane and Dhawan set up one of the most one-sided ODI match you will see.
India won the toss and elected to field on a good looking batting track that did a little bit early on. England got off to a poor start after B. Kumar removed Alex Hales and Alistair Cook in the same over to restrict England to 16-2. Ballance was then out a couple of overs later to Mohammed Shami as England were put into a spot of bother at 23-3. Kumar and Shami at this point were bowling extremely well with excellent control, sticking to their line and lengths brilliantly. Root and Morgan trundled along slowly as England reached their 50 in the 20th over. The two got England past the 100 mark before spin again proved their downfall. Jadeja got rid of Morgan for a gritty 32 as he was caught by the unusual fielding position of leg gully, demonstrating the adventurous side of captain Dhoni which is a trait needed to succeed at the highest level.
Part time bowler Suresh Raina dismissed Root shortly after, as Root attempted to play the reverse sweep but was caught easily. Moeen Ali was the only England batsman to show any flair and attacking prowess as he played spin excellently with plenty of foot movement, boundary hitting and the rotating of strike. He hit a well made half century off just 37 balls but regular wickets and little resistance from the tail meant England were bowled out for just 206 in the 50th over, well short of a par score.
With run rate not being an issue, India started watchfully as they only scored 4 runs in the first 4 overs. The next over though is where the innings was really kicked started. Rahane stroked his way to 4 boundaries in the Jimmy Anderson over and never looked back. Some beautiful stroke play and wonderful timing by both Dhawan and Rahane took India to 57-0 off of the 10 over powerplay to give India more than the perfect start. Things went from bad to worse for England as a lack of control in their bowling allowed India to score far too quickly for the amount of runs they had on the board.
Rahane brought up his 50 in style as he hit Ali for 6 and Dhawan followed suit hitting a massive six off the bowling of Anderson to bring up a sublime half century. By this stage India were strolling to victory at 127-0 off 21 overs with just 80 needed. Rahane then brought up his maiden ODI century, a truly excellent innings surely cementing his place in the side ahead of the World Cup in 6 months. He eventually fell for 106 after an opening stand of 183 but Dhawan smashed the remaining 25 runs from the next two overs to end up 97 not out as India ended up 212-1 from 30.3 overs to cruise home and cruise to a quite brilliant series victory, proving why they are the best ODI team in the world.
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