Dhoni leads India to series victory

MOHALI, India, (Reuters) – India pulled off a  thrilling five-wicket victory over England with four balls to  spare in the third one-day international yesterday to take an  unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
  
Set 299 for victory in Mohali, world champions India reached  the target when captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit two consecutive  boundaries off the first two deliveries in the last over.   

Dhoni (31-ball 35) kept his calm and with Ravindra Jadeja  added 65 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket to see India home.  

A 111-run stand for the second wicket between Ajinkya Rahane  (91) and Gautam Gambhir (58) kept the hosts close to the  required scoring rate.  

England came back strongly after Gambhir’s departure and  picked up four wickets in quick time with some inspired seam  bowling but made crucial errors on the field in the closing  stages.    
  
Earlier, Jonathan Trott anchored England with an unbeaten  116-ball 98, after captain Alastair Cook won the toss and  decided to bat first.  
 
Trott added 101 for the third wicket with Kevin Pietersen  (61-ball 64) and another 103 for the unbroken fifth wicket with  Samit Patel (43-ball 70) after opener Cook (3) departed early.   

Pietersen played a fluent knock and hit nine boundaries to  increase England’s scoring rate and laid the platform for  Patel’s late assault.    

Patel hit seven boundaries and two sixes as the visitors  finished with a flourish, scoring 91 in the last 10 overs.   

The last two ODIs will be played in Mumbai (Oct. 23) and  Kolkata (Oct. 25).      

Scoreboard
England innings        
A. Cook lbw b Vinay Kumar                       3 
C. Kieswetter b Kohli                                  36  
J. Trott not out                                             98 
K. Pietersen lbw b Jadeja                          64   
R. Bopara b P. Kumar                                 24  
S. Patel not out                                             70   
Extras (lb-1, w-2)                                         3   
Total (four wickets; 50 overs)              298
Did not bat: J. Bairstow, T. Bresnan, G. Swann, S. Finn, J.  Dernbach   
Fall of wickets: 1-8 2-53 3-154 4-195   
Bowling: P. Kumar 10-0-56-1 (2w), Vinay Kumar 9-1-64-1, V.  Kohli 3-0-20-1, U. Yadav 10-0-71-0, R. Ashwin 10-0-45-0, R.  Jadeja 8-0-41-1   

India innings   

P. Patel lbw b Bresnan                                 38  
A. Rahane c Cook b Finn                             91  
G. Gambhir c Pietersen b Finn                 58  
V. Kohli lbw b Swann                                   35     
S. Raina c Pietersen b Bresnan                   0  
MS Dhoni not out                                          35
R. Jadeja not out                                           26   
Extras (lb-8, w-7, nb-2)                             17   
Total (five wickets; 49.2 overs)             300  
Did not bat: R. Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, U. Yadav, P. Kumar   
Fall of wickets: 1-79 2-190 3-212 4-217 5-235   

Bowling: S. Finn 10-0-44-2, T. Bresnan 7.2-0-62-2 (1nb, 2w),  J. Dernbach 10-0-69-0 (1nb, 3w), S. Patel 10-0-50-0, G. Swann  10-0-59-1 (1w), R. Bopara 2-0-8-0 (1w)   
India lead 3-0 in five-match series.