Published: Jan 19, 2013, 03:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 19, 2013, 03:06 PM (IST)
Shami Ahmed (L) celebrates after getting rid of England captain Alastair Cook © PTI
Ranchi: Jan 19, 2013
England once again fell flat against slow bowlers as a disciplined Indian bowling attack skittled them out for a paltry 155 in their third cricket one-dayer.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja once again produced a magical spell taking 3/19, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and pacer Ishant Sharma took two wickets each.
Quelling the element of doubts about his availability after he was hit on right thumb at yesterday’s practice, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had everything right from the toss in the first match at his home venue.
First, he called it right at the toss, put England to bat and reduced them to 98 for six from 68 for no loss at one stage.
Even there was a bit of luck going in the skipper’s favour as a poor umpiring decision by Indian official S Ravi gave the home side the prized scalp of Kevin Pietersen.
After the fall of Pietersen, English batsmen showed little appetite to stay at the crease as the Indian slow bowlers made their presence felt in front of a capacity crowd of 39,000 at the JSCA Stadium which is hosting its first international match.
Joe Root was England’s top-scorer with 39 as the visiting top-order failed miserably.
After being reduced to 98 for six, Root and Tim Bresnan stitched 47 runs for the seventh wicket but after the fall of the former, it was all over for England.
Ian Bell was super slow to start with as he took 11 balls to get off the mark, putting pressure on skipper Alastair Cook.
Indian new ball bowlers of Bhvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed got some movement and pace off the pitch hosting its first international match, as the English openers had that element of doubt to play their shots.
Brief Scores: England 155 all-out in 42.2 overs (Joe Root 39, Ian Bell 25, Tim Bresnan 25; Ravindra Jadeja 3 for 19, Ishant Sharma 2 for 29) vs India
