India take series versus England, 3-0 with 2 to play

India notched up yet another victory in the 3rd ODI played at the PCA Stadium, Mohali. But this time it was hard-fought unlike the two previous matches. India won by 5 wickets with 4 balls to spare.

England batted well to post 298 on the board. After the early loss of Cook's wicket the English batsmen attacked the Indian bowlers and forced them to alter their line and length. As a result, all the Indian pacers were expensive. Umesh Yadav again failed to find a good line and ended up conceding 71 runs in his 10 overs. Only the spinners retained some control, so that the score could be restricted below 300 .

For England , Pietersen and Trott showed the way. Pietersen scored an aggressive 64 while Trott anchored the innings remaining unbeaten on 98. Samit Patel provided the late impetus to propel the score to 298, himself getting 70 off 48. The Indian fielding was not as good today, the highlight being when Kohli missed a simple run out by shying at the stump when he could have dislodged the bails by his hand(with the ball in it, ofcourse). England also played a lot of dot balls and could have scored a lot higher if they could rotate strike effectively.

For India, the openers were solid. Ajinkya Rahane, the man of the match, top-scored with 91. The result looked like a foregone conclusion at 190/1 before India managed to stoke the contest back to life by losing wickets. Gautam Gambhir played a forgettable shot while Suresh Raina's shot was more audacious as he was on nought. This is the problem with Raina. His temperament is often suspect under pressure and there is no point pushing him for tests when these situations recur so regularly. Finally, Dhoni and Jadeja steered India home, Dhoni really playing well under the pump. With 30 required off 18 and given India's dodgy lower order the match looked as good as gone before Dhoni took control.

For England Steven Finn bowled well again this time taking 2 for 43. Swann also found some purchase on the track. The ultimate difference between the two teams was fielding with England's oufielding being ragged and them also dropping catches. It was a particularly bad day for Kieswetter when he dropped Kohli's catch and to make it worse, missed Jadeja's run out when he dislodged the bails with his legs. Either off those two missed chances could(read would) have swung things England's way.

Generally, after the series has been won the winning team tries out some of the other players. Don't be sure of it this time though. Although nothing official, this series is being touted as the payback series in India and I get the feeling India are eager to blank England.

England, on the other hand, will try out young players. Bell's return is imperative and Borthwick is likely to get a game. Although the series is gone, professional pride is still there to play for and I am sure England will want to avoid an unsavoury "brownwash".