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The Report by Andrew Miller
October 20, 2011
India 300 for 5 (Rahane 91) beat England 298 for 4 (Trott 98*, Patel 70*) by five wickets
MS Dhoni was India's matchwinner once again, as he marshalled an asking-rate approaching ten an over to seal an unassailable 3-0 series lead in the third ODI at Mohali. With Ravindra Jadeja alongside him, he clubbed Tim Bresnan for consecutive boundaries in the final over of the match to finish unbeaten on 35 from 31 balls, as England's best total of the series - 298 for 4 - proved insufficient to keep the series alive.
It was a sloppy fielding display from England in a match they could and should have won. Their own total had been built on another sheet-anchor performance from Jonathan Trott, who finished unbeaten on 98 from 116 balls, but the point-of-difference innings had been played by Samit Patel, whose career-best 70 from 43 balls enabled England to add 91 runs in their final ten overs. Given the history of chasing at Mohali - only five teams had previously managed it in 19 matches at the venue - their route back into the series was awaiting them.
Instead, they produced a listless defence, with Ajinkya Rahane cruising along to 91 from 104 balls in a second-wicket stand of 111 with Gautam Gambhir. They managed just one wicket in the first 34 overs - a marginal lbw against Parthiv Patel, which broke an opening partnership of 79 - and though they rallied well to claim four wickets in an eight-over spell of dominance, their failure to take their chances cost them dear in the closing stages.
The most culpable man was the wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, who missed an early chance to remove Gambhir on 17, before dropping Virat Kohli off a Jade Dernbach bouncer at a crucial juncture. Kohli had been struggling to impose himself and should have gone for 4 from 12 balls, only for Kieswetter to spill the catch as his elbows hit the turf. Worse was to follow, however, when he trod on the stumps while attempting to run out Jadeja with 12 balls of the match remaining, and 17 runs still needed.
That final error unsettled the under-pressure bowler Dernbach, who had earlier shown his frustration when Tim Bresnan let a four fly through his legs at backward point. He finished his spell with a wide and a no-ball beamer in an over that went for 10 runs, moments after Steven Finn - who had bowled superbly to concede 31 runs from his first eight overs - had been battered for 13 runs in his ninth.
Full report to follow
25 overs India 136 for 1 (Rahane 63*, Gambhir 30*) need another 163 runs to beat England 298 for 4 (Trott 98*, Patel 70*)
Ajinkya Rahane compiled a 59-ball half-century, the second of his career, to guide India's pursuit of England's total of 298 for 4 in the third ODI at Mohali. By the halfway mark of their run-chase, they were well placed on 136 for 1, with Gautam Gambhir settling in on 30 not out following the loss of Parthiv Patel for 38.
India's progress was serene from the outset, as Parthiv and Rahane added 79 for the first wicket in 15.3 overs. Tim Bresnan forced the breakthrough with a swinging delivery that might have pitched outside leg stump, but the lbw appeal was upheld by the umpire.
Gambhir, whose first boundary came from a first-ball cut for four, could have fallen for 17 when a thin edge off Samit Patel was dropped by Craig Kieswetter, but chances were few and far between. The introduction of England's spinners slowed the scoring rate but with time and wickets on their side, India's batsmen were content to trade singles, secure in the knowledge that their power-players are still to come.
On a livelier surface than in the first two ODIs, Rahane's technique against England's quicks was impressive, as he picked off boundaries behind square with soft hands and deft use of the wrists. He had made 63 from 73 balls after 25 overs, with five fours to his name.
50 overs England 298 for 4 (Trott 98*, Patel 70*) v India
Jonathan Trott anchored England's most impressive batting performance of the series with a calmly paced 98 not out from 116 balls, and shared in a pair of key partnerships with Kevin Pietersen and Samit Patel, as India were set a challenging target of 299 in the third ODI in Mohali. Pietersen made a bold 64 from 61 balls before falling lbw to the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja, while Patel's sparky hitting in the final ten overs carried him to a career-best 70 from 43 balls, as India's effortless dominance in the series to date received its first significant challenge.
Needing a victory to stay in the series, Alastair Cook gave England an early leg-up by winning the toss, because in 19 matches at the Punjab CA Stadium, 14 have been won by the side batting first. The captain himself was unable to capitalise - he was trapped lbw by Vinay Kumar for 3 - but Craig Kieswetter produced a sprightly 36 from 38 balls, including a brace of sixes in consecutive overs, to kickstart the innings and ensure that England's batting frailties of the first two matches were not revisited.
However, the key man, as so often, was Trott, whose tempo is immoveable regardless of the format of the game. This was his first significant innings since being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year, and it was a reprisal of the role he had played at the World Cup in March. He picked off eight boundaries after coming to the crease in the fourth over of the innings, and was denied his fourth ODI hundred by a sharp piece of fielding at short fine leg, when he paddle-swept the penultimate ball of the innings for a single. Though he missed out on his milestone, the net gain was England's, as Patel blazed Vinay Kumar's final ball of the innings into the long-on stands for six.
The debate will rage about Trott's approach to one-day cricket, but seeing as England collapsed in a heap in the first two matches, the backbone he provided to this performance was self-evident. Both of his major partners, Pietersen and Patel, thrived on the right to go for their strokes, and as history has shown time and again at Mohali, chasing under the lights is never an easy task. The last team to falter at this venue was Pakistan in the World Cup semi-final seven months ago.
Pietersen and Trott came together with England wobbling on 53 for 2, with Kieswetter having ruined his good start by steering a wide ball from Virat Kohli into his leg stump. But the pair soon settled into a comfortable accumulative rhythm. Pietersen glanced his second ball through fine leg for four, whereupon Trott responded with three fours in four balls from Yadav and Kohli. A thick outside edge off Ashwin gifted Pietersen another boundary, but there was nothing fortuitous about his subsequent assault on Praveen Kumar, as he helped himself to four further fours in consecutive overs.
As so often, it was the introduction of a left-arm spinner that dented Pietersen's momentum, but crucially India let their opportunity for a breakthrough slip past. Ravindra Jadeja sent down five consecutive dot-balls, which tempted Pietersen into a suicidal single from the sixth. Trott, on 32 at the time, barely responded to the call, and would have been out by the length of the pitch had the shy from midwicket been remotely accurate. But MS Dhoni behind the stumps was forced to dive to intercept, and the chance was lost.
It would soon prove costly, even though Pietersen was unable to convert his fine start into a flying finish. Jadeja, from round the wicket, tweaked one into his front pad to send him on his way in the 30th over, whereupon Ravi Bopara followed up with 24 from 32 balls - a promising innings that included three fours but was ended by a superb swinging yorker from Praveen, which flattened his middle stump from the first ball of his eighth over.
Patel appeared at No. 6 - a surprising promotion with Jonny Bairstow still to come - but with a licence to play his strokes, he responded supremely. His second ball was hooked for two to the deep midwicket boundary, and he continued in the same aggressive vein thereafter. Umesh Yadav was dispatched in the same direction for his first boundary, while Vinay was manipulated through the leg side for consecutive fours - the second of which was upgraded after an intervention from the third umpire.
However, it was in the final four overs that Patel really found his range, as England built on a promising position of 255 for 4 with 43 further runs in 24 deliveries. Vinay was belted over midwicket for the first of Patel's two sixes, while Yadav's figures were further dented by two more fours from the final two balls of his spell. Trott was little more than a spectator by this stage, as he worked the singles and handed over the strike, and though he was left shaking his head in frustration after falling short of his century, his solidity paid rich dividends for England's hopes in the series.
India 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Vinay Kumar, 11 Umesh Yadav
England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ravi Bopara, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Jade Dernbach
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