India beat England by 9 wickets in 4th ODI; win series

Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan starred as India registered a convincing nine-wicket win over England in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Birmingham on Tuesday.

Updated: September 2, 2014 9:16 PM IST

By Aayush Puthran

Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan starred as India registered a convincing nine-wicket win over England in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Birmingham on Tuesday. With this win not only did India win the series, but also Mahendra Singh Dhoni became India’s most successful captain, beating Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of 90 ODI wins. Needing 208 runs to win, Indian openers offered nothing to England bowlers.

Earlier in the day, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won the toss and put England to bat. The conditions were clear and ideal for a good day of cricket. Mohit Sharma, who was injured, made way for Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni to make his ODI debut. The decision to field first worked wonders as the Indian pacers made most of the favorable swinging conditions on offer. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started off his spell with two consecutive maiden overs. Dhawal Kulkarni, on the other hand, had a tough time getting his line and length spot on. But, Bhuvneshwar dismissed both the openers in a space of four deliveries to set the English charge back. F

or the first time in the series, the openers couldn’t put up a half-century stand. Within a few overs, Mohammed Shami too struck as he managed to get the leading edge off Gary Ballance’s bat which flew to Ajinkya Rahane stationed at short cover. By the end of 10 overs, Indian pacers had bowled four maiden overs. The duo of Eoin Morgan and Joe Root took a cautious approach after England were reduced to 23 for three in eight overs. They put on an unbeaten stand of 80 runs for the fourth wicket. The Irish was slow to start off as he scored just four runs in his first 26 deliveries. However, he took the attack to Mohammed Shami in the 19th over and started pacing his innings from thereon, scoring two consecutive boundaries.

Dhoni didn’t introduce spin till the 18th over of the innings despite their huge success in the ODI series so far. However, Morgan and Root showed better application against the spinners as compared to their performance in the series.However, the Morgan was finally done in by Ravindra Jadeja. India’s fielding has also been top-notch; something that helped the side in the previous two matches as well. England started playing aggressive cricket once the powerplay was taken. Moeen Ali especially took a liking for Indian spinners as he consistently charged down the track against the spinners. He had Chris Woakes for company at the other end with 10 overs remaining in the innings.

India have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five match series after they won the two encounters at Cardiff and Nottingham. The first ODI at Bristol was abandoned due to rain without a single ball being bowled.

Brief Scores:

England 207 in 49.3 overs (Moeen Ali 67, Joe Root 44; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/14) lost to India 212/1 in 30.3 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 106, Shikhar Dhawan 97*) by 9 wickets

Catch all the over-by-over live updates of the 4th ODI between India and England at Birmingham here

Also Read:

For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest News on India.com.

By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts Cookies Policy.