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".

A good day for bowlers

Or rather, a bad day for batsmen. Because most of the wickets fell due to inept batting. But bowler will take whatever they are getting with glee in this age of flat batting surfaces.

The horrific batting started when West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 61 in the inconsequential(W.I already won the series by winning the first 2) 3rd ODI in Chittagong. Had Shakib not gifted some extras W.I would not have managed 58, the score that Bangladesh were castled for in the World Cup and still a sore point for their fans. Yes, the wicket was slow and low and there was some moisture but still nothing can excuse such a performance. Bangladeshi spinner accounted for 7 wickets while conceding 21 runs in a pitch totally different from the earlier flat ones. Surely, Bangladesh now know what kind of wickets to prepare for the test series.

But more unexpectedly, SriLanka were shot out for 197 by Pakistan in their first test at Abu Dhabi. The score can be put in perspective by the fact that the wicket was flattest of flat(still an understatement) and the conditions were oppressively hot, enough to send shivers down any bowler's spine. Pakistan bowlers must also be given credit. Aizaz Cheema bowled with pace and Junaid Khan picked up a fiver. But the blame for this debacle must be put on SriLanka's poor planning. Dilshan preferred to bat in the middle order and the openers Thirimanne and Paranavitana managed a measly 46 in 25 overs(scary) before T got out. When they say the English world "implode" , this is exactly what they mean. Build up pressure yourselves, and then perish as a result of it. I won't be surprised if the Lankan bowler give their batsmen a piece of their mind tonight. With Pakistan ending the day at 27/0 they face the prospect of a lo....ng, hard day tomorrow.

Vinay and Kohli set up 8-wicket victory for India

India notched up yet another easy 8-wicket victory over England in the second ODI played at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi. This time however India had to bowl first after Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bat first and the credit of this victory goes to the bowlers. England now trail 0-2 in the 5-match series and it will be hard for them to come back.

England got off to a disastrous start, losing the wickets of Kieswetter and Cook with no score on the board. Trott and Pietersen recovered somewhat with the former playing some silken strokes before he was caught behind off Vinay. Later, Samit Patel and Bairstow also forged a patnership before Samit was dismissed by Yadav. But with wickets falling in clusters, England were always going to be short of a par score. The only positive that England can derive from this display is that Pietersen looked to be getting back in some sort of form. He looked to be in control, dispatching Jadeja over the sightscreen off consecutive deliveries before he perished chasing a wide delivery by Yadav. As an Indian, I know that our team feels a lot better with Pietersen gone and his wicket was as good as the match to India.

The hero of the day, I am not ecstatic to say is, Vinay Kumar, the much maligned(by me and others) military medium pacer. Honestly, I was hoping that he had a bad match so that the management would be hard-pressed to select Aaron. But Vinay bowled well, swinging the ball slightly on a pitch that offered a bit of help throughout. He took the wickets of Kieswetter and Trott, overall finishing with 4 wickets. Yadav once again bowled with good pace and found consistent away swing, which accounted for Pietersen. Overall, a good day for Indian fast bowling, which does not happen very often.

When India came on to bat, Bresnan and Finn bowled with venom early on. They found some help on this pitch and sent the ball nicely through to the wicketkeeper, often rushing the Indian batsmen with pace. Bresnan took both wickets but Finn was more impressive. He bowled at searing pace, often 150 plus and troubled all the batsmen. But his bad luck with wickets continued. Like what happened at Lord's and Cardiff, catches fell short, balls went to the boundary off edges and batsmen played and missed but did not nick. Like Sunny Gavaskar remarked with the oft-repeated phrase, "he will bowl worse on another day and get 5 wickets". Finn is an exciting prospect, as he is genuinely fast and being 22, he will get even faster. Cricket is a great leveler and I expect him to soon get bucketloads of wickets. Once they overcame that period, Kohli played a belligerent innings at more than a run-a-ball to guide India home. Gambhir played the role of second fiddle, as he often does, efficiently.

This was a clinical performance from India in which all the cogs in the wheel performed their part. Things could have been different if Finn could snap up either Kohli or Gambhir. England should have performed better because this was as similar a wicket to the ones in England as they are going to get. They should pull up their socks in Mohali, which also offers bit of pace and bounce. The exclusion of Ian Bell, the best English batsmen, baffles me and he should be brought back. Should they fail there England may well lose 0-5. The only thing that leaves bad taste is that Kohli was given man of the match. Vinay Kumar set up the win with his wickets and bowlers should be given encouragement in a batting-obsessed country. If we are to find good bowlers, we should give M.O.M awards to bowlers taking 4 wickets on flattish pitches, not batsmen smashing 100s on them.

England vs India 1st ODI: Easy win for India

The Indian cricket team tasted the sweet taste of victory after a long time when they defeated England rather easily in today's day-night encounter in Hyderabad, played on a slow pitch with variable bounce. In the process they also overcame the jinx associated with this ground in which all the 3 previous matches were lost by the home team. India scored 300, probably 50 too many for the pitch and won by 124 runs.

The match was set up nicely for India by Dhoni(m.o.m) and Raina. The pitch was tough for batting and this was India's first match under the new regulations. They took on the inexperienced English bowlers plundering 180 runs off the last 20 overs. The English bowlers missed a trick by bowling too full on a pitch where banging it short would help them exploit its dual nature.

The English batsmen predictably struggled against spin on a slow pitch. Ashwin and Jadeja took 3 wickets apiece. Jadeja, in his second coming, looks a much improved cricket, both as a batsman and a bowler. He can be the allrounder India has been looking for.

Umesh Yadav also impressed with his pace. His line left a lot to be desired, but he must be left alone than tampered with. We do not want another 120 kmph trundler bowling "line and length". Even bowlers like Lee and Steyn were erratic when they started out. Fast bowlers have to be given a long leash. Vinay was ordinary once again. Aaron seems to be the designated drinks boy. It is puzzling.

India will be pleased that they put up such a commanding performance with a depleted squad. England will come back hard at India and will be bolstered by the return of Ian Bell. Both sides will try out young players through the remainder of this series.

Power outage of 10 hours

Power is out today for a total of 10 hours in six phases starting from dawn. Yes, this is India. It enervates you and sucks out all your vigour rendering you a complete wreck. And this is not an aberration. The average outage thesedays is 8 hours. No wonder most qualified Indians leave these shores. I am personally inclined to do so.