Bell, Bresnan Lead England To Victory In Final ODI

Bell, Bresnan Lead England To Victory In Final Match

Ian Bell scored an unbeaten century as England beat India by five wickets in Dharmasala

©REUTERS / Action Images

England 227-3 (Bell 113no, Morgan 40no) beat
India 226 (Raina 83) by seven wickets
Fifth One-Day International, Dharmasala
Scorecard
Report by John Pennington

England rounded off their tour of India on a high note, winning the fifth and final One-Day International in Dharmasala by seven wickets.

Tim Bresnan took four wickets as India were bowled out for 226 before Ian Bell's third ODI century guided England home with more than two overs to spare.

India claimed the series 3-2 by winning the middle three games in Kochi, Ranchi and Mohali after England's nine-run victory in Rajkot.

England won the toss and decided to field and quickly justified that decision by reducing India to 49 for four and 79 for five with Bresnan (4-45), Steven Finn (2-27) and James Tredwell (2-25) getting rid of in-form players Rohit Sharma (4), Virat Kohli (0) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (15) with the added bonus wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh for 24 and nought respectively.

However, Suresh Raina was far more difficult to remove and his 83 in 98 balls shepherded India to a competitive total. He hit eight fours and two sixes and through useful support from Ravi Jadeja (39) and Bhuvneshwar Singh (31 in 30 balls), turned the tables on England.

Chris Woakes finally removed Raina on his way to figures of one for 45 in nine overs and Bresnan finished off the innings with the wickets of Bhuvneshwar and Shami Ahmed (1).

The only blemish for England was their fill-in bowlers, Joe Root and Samit Patel, conceding 6.8 and 7.67 runs per over as England's lack of a specialist fifth bowler was exposed.

Alastair Cook and Bell then added 53 for the first wicket as that minor quibble was swiftly put to the back of everybody's mind, Cook making 22 before he was bowled by Ishant Sharma.

Kevin Pietersen was caught by Jadeja off Ahmed for six before Bell and Root (31) added 79 for the third wicket, Bell completing his 25th ODI half-century and Root displaying the maturity that, given a run in the team, will surely see him match Bell's tally.

Bell was hungry for more, having endured something of a barren run since the Test series and after Root was bowled by Jadeja attempting to hit across the line, he became the eighth English batsman to pass 4,000 ODI runs and then notched up his third ODI century (also his second against India and first away from home).

It came in 133 balls and with Eoin Morgan powering his way to 40 not out in as many balls with three sixes, England eased home in the end in the 48th over, Bell finishing on 113 in 143 deliveries.

© Cricket World 2013