ENGLAND BEAT India in 5th ODI; India wins series series at 3-2 in favour of the hosts

Dharamsala, January 27, 2013: England beat India by seven wickets in the fifth and final One-day International here as Ian Bell's scored the unbeaten 113and helped England to a seven-wicket win over India.

This match was  played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium at Dharamsala on Sunday.

Having already lost the series, the visitors secured the consolation win when they chased down India's score of 226all out without much difficulty and with 16balls to spare.

Bell played the anchor role, taking his team past the finishing line with help from Joe Root (31) and Eoin Morgan (40not out).

Alastair Cook won the toss and put India in to bat in cold morning conditions.

The Indian batsmen were in trouble from the outset, playing one too many expansive shots. The hosts had lost half of the side by the 22nd over with the score on 79.

Gautam Gambhir (24) once again failed with the bat as the opening partnership woes continued for India. Rohit Sharma (4), Virat Kohli (0) and Yuvraj Singh (0) fell with the score on 24and from then on, it was always going to be tough to get back in the game.

Suresh Raina, who has been in sparkling form this series, was the only silver-lining on an otherwise lacklustre day for the hosts.

His innings of 83off 98balls took India to a fighting score. The left-hander was well supported by Ravindra Jadeja (39), who has also impressed in the five-match series.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (31) showed his credentials with the bat, playing a cameo late on in the innings.

In reply, England started off shakily. Indian umpire Sudhir Asnani once again made a case for the Decision Review System (DRS) with another appalling decision.

Ishant Sharma in his first over had the English captain caught behind but Asnani failed to see or hear the edge thus leaving the bowler and fielders stunned.

But from there on the visitors didn't put a foot wrong and coasted to victory. There were many positives for the visitors, who will be happy to see the performances of Tim Bresnan and James Tredwell with the ball. Bresnan (4/45) got the ball to swing and bounce asking many tough questions of the Indian batsman. But the find of the tournament for the English has been off-spinner Tredwell (2/25).Tredwell was once again economical and took two crucial wickets. His innocuous off-spin has troubled the Indians, who have tried to dominate him but have failed miserably.

The following is the scoreboard of India against England in the fifth and final One-Day International (ODI) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here Sunday:

India

Gautam Gambhir c Bell b Tredwell 24

Rohit Sharma c Tredwell b Bresnan 4

Virat Kohli c Tredwell b Bresnan 0

Yuvraj Singh c Morgan b Finn 0

Suresh Raina c Bell b Woakes 83

Mahendra Singh Dhoni lbw b Finn 15

Ravindra Jadeja c Bell b Tredwell  39

Ravichandran Ashwin c Finn b Patel 19

Bhuvneshwar Kumar c Finn b Bresnan 31

Shami Ahmed c and b Bresnan 1

Ishant Sharma not out 0

Extras: (lb 4, w 7) 11

Total: (all out in 49.4overs) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (R.G. Sharma, 3.3overs), 2-13 (Kohli, 3.4), 3-24 (Yuvraj Singh, 6.5), 4-49 (Gambhir, 12.2), 5-79 (Dhoni, 21.1), 6-157 (Jadeja, 38.4), 7-177 (Raina, 41.4), 8-211 (Ashwin, 46.6), 9-225 (Kumar, 49.3), 10-226 (Shami Ahmed, 49.4)

Bowling:

Steve Finn 10-2-28-2

Tim Bresnan 9.4-1-45-4

Chris Woakes 9-1-45-1

James Tredwell 10-1-25-2

Joe Root 5-0-34-0

Samit Patel 6-0-46-1

England innings:

Alastair Cook b I Sharma 22

Ian Bell not out 113

Kevin Pietersen c Jadeja b Shami Ahmed 6

Joe Root b Jadeja 31

Eoin Morgan not out 40

Extras: (lb 8, w 7) 15

Total: (3wickets; 47.2overs) 227

Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Cook, 11.5overs), 2-64 (Pietersen, 18.1), 3-143 (Root, 35.4)

Bowling:

Bhuvneshvar Kumar 9-1-45-0

Shami Ahmed 9-1-46-1

Ishant Sharma 10-3-37-1

Ravichandran Ashwin 10-0-50-0

Yuvraj Singh 2-0-15-0

Ravindra Jadeja 7.2-0-26-1