Rankings rise consolation for England

England have drawn level with India at the top of the ICC's ODI rankings after winning the final international at Dharamsala by seven wickets. Ian Bell's unbeaten 113 guided England past India's 226 all out, and the victory is some consolation for losing the five-match series 3-2.

Good early bowling by Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn and the ever-dependable James Tredwell, after Alastair Cook won the toss, pegged India first to 24 for 3 and then 79 for 5, before Suresh Raina (83) and Ravindra Jadeja (39) led a lower order recovery. England's lesser bowlers, Joe Root and Samit Patel, came in for some punishment as India rallied, but Bresnan finished with 4 for 45 and Tredwell's ten overs brought him excellent figures of 2 for 25.

In chilly but bright conditions, as the ground in the Himalayan foothills celebrated staging its first one-day international, England made a solid start to their run chase through Bell and Cook and, after losing Cook for 22 and Kevin Pietersen cheaply, successive stands of 79 between Bell and Root (31) and an unbroken 84 between Bell and Eoin Morgan (40 not out) swept England home with 16 balls to spare.

Bell's fine innings occupied 143 balls and it was only England's third win in their past 23 ODIs in India. Cook's team have endured a disappointing series after winning the opening game in Rajkot but this was a good way to sign off and the one-day squad - minus the rested Pietersen but boosted by the returns of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Jonathan Trott - now moves on to New Zealand.


Date: 27/01/2013 12:16:00 by MBaldwin
In: Today | England |