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India 285 for 6 (Dhoni 72, Jadeja 61*, Finn 2-51) v England
MS Dhoni fired India to a good total © BCCI
India's ODI series against England had switched from the chill of a harsh Delhi winter to the more humid southern climate of Kerala - and it was England's bowlers who felt the heat in a devastating climax to India's innings. England had sensed themselves in control for much of India's innings, but 108 runs from the last 10 overs, 68 from the last five, shook that notion to the core.
As so often, it was MS Dhoni left to plot a route towards a potentially winning total, wresting control from England's attack to the acclaim of a crowd of around 70,000. What Dhoni began, Ravindra Jadeja completed, rounding things off by taking 14 from Jade Dernbach's last three deliveries to finish with an unbeaten 61 from 37 balls.
India approached the last 10 overs in unconvincing shape, at 177 for 5, having been confounded in the batting powerplay by the variations of Dernbach and Steve Finn who conceded only 21 runs in five overs and dismissed their batting mainstay, Suresh Raina, in the process.
Kochi, in tourist terms at least, is the gateway to the backwaters and India, 1-0 down in the series with four to play had no desire to take that particular trip. Dhoni, with every defiant muscle flex, made that abundantly clear.
He fell four balls from the end, his 72 from 66 balls coming to grief when he sliced Dernbach to Joe Root at deep cover. It was a suitable end because Dernbach's unwavering policy of bowling wide to him outside offstump, delivered with impressive accuracy, had been England's most effective counter. Not that Jadeja gave him any respect - when the dust had settled, it revealed that he had conceded 73 from nine overs.
Dhoni had failed to manage India's run chase in Rajkot, holing out at long-off against Dernbach's slower ball. He received a near-replica in the closing overs but this time his hands were fast and his brain quicksilver and he muscled it well beyond the boundary rope. He creates his own virtuous circle, creating a febrile atmosphere and then feeding off it, in turn causing the crowd to roar with even greater expectation.
His 48th ODI fifty was not his fastest, taking 56 balls, but the boundary after he reached his 50 was a gem, a standing-tall whip through mid-on with powerful forearms. Chris Woakes thought he had Dhoni caught at the wicket when he had made six from nine balls but it was impossible for the umpire Vineet Kulkarni to hear a nick in such a din and normal-speed TV replays, which were all that were shown, made things no clearer.
For Woakes, who was playing his first ODI in India after his late inclusion for the injured, Tim Bresnan, it was an examination far beyond anything he had ever experienced. His last two overs went for 24 - Jadeja also taking three boundaries from him in an over - but all England's pace bowlers suffered in the final blast.
Raina had made 55 from 78 balls before he dragged on a pull at Steve Finn and was left bashing the peak of his helmet with his bat in frustration. In as early as the 16th over, Raina prospered primarily against the offspin of James Tredwell, two slog sweeps for six representing the highlight of his innings, and ensured that Tredwell, who took four wickets in the opening ODI in Rajkot, did not create as much mayhem second time around. As for England's bonus allrounder in the opening match, Joe Root, who bowled nine overs relatively unscathed, there was something of a reality check as he only bowled two here.
It was a new Kochi pitch, liable to get slower and lower as the match progressed, leaving Dhoni with a straightforward decision to bat upon winning the toss. England must find all this international cricket on newly-laid surfaces unusual. There was a time, certainly in England, when pitches were chewed over for years before they were deemed suitable for the international game, but modern life sees little value in patience.
India's opening pair did not survive long on it. Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane had both departed by the fifth over. Finn and Dernbach, also impressive with the new ball, had clamoured for several lbw appeals before they prospered by hitting the stumps.
Dernbach's nip-backer to bowl Gambhir through the gate was a delivery made to order. There are few more productive, or less convincing, shots in ODIs than Gambhir's dab through gully, bat hanging away from his body and he had played it the previous ball much to the bowler's frustration. The ball which cut back was the classic retort. Finn also brought a delivery back in his next over, late inswing accounting for Rahane as he shuffled across his crease.
India's frustration grew when Yuvraj Singh fell to an erroneous lbw decision by Steve Davis who did not see - and, like Kulkarni in the case of Dhoni, certainly could not hear in such a deafening atmosphere - a deflection off the glove as he swept at James Tredwell. With no DRS in use, Yuvraj had to take his punishment, although he did so with a stray comment or two.
Kohli, like Raina later in the innings, also made a bat-on-helmet departure, his own promise unfulfilled as he reached 37 in considered fashion, but then flayed a full, wide delivery from Woakes to Ian Bell on the cover boundary.
MS Dhoni fired India to a good total © BCCI
India's ODI series against England had switched from the chill of a harsh Delhi winter to the more humid southern climate of Kerala - and it was England's bowlers who felt the heat in a devastating climax to India's innings. England had sensed themselves in control for much of India's innings, but 108 runs from the last 10 overs, 68 from the last five, shook that notion to the core.
As so often, it was MS Dhoni left to plot a route towards a potentially winning total, wresting control from England's attack to the acclaim of a crowd of around 70,000. What Dhoni began, Ravindra Jadeja completed, rounding things off by taking 14 from Jade Dernbach's last three deliveries to finish with an unbeaten 61 from 37 balls.
India approached the last 10 overs in unconvincing shape, at 177 for 5, having been confounded in the batting powerplay by the variations of Dernbach and Steve Finn who conceded only 21 runs in five overs and dismissed their batting mainstay, Suresh Raina, in the process.
Kochi, in tourist terms at least, is the gateway to the backwaters and India, 1-0 down in the series with four to play had no desire to take that particular trip. Dhoni, with every defiant muscle flex, made that abundantly clear.
He fell four balls from the end, his 72 from 66 balls coming to grief when he sliced Dernbach to Joe Root at deep cover. It was a suitable end because Dernbach's unwavering policy of bowling wide to him outside offstump, delivered with impressive accuracy, had been England's most effective counter. Not that Jadeja gave him any respect - when the dust had settled, it revealed that he had conceded 73 from nine overs.
Dhoni had failed to manage India's run chase in Rajkot, holing out at long-off against Dernbach's slower ball. He received a near-replica in the closing overs but this time his hands were fast and his brain quicksilver and he muscled it well beyond the boundary rope. He creates his own virtuous circle, creating a febrile atmosphere and then feeding off it, in turn causing the crowd to roar with even greater expectation.
His 48th ODI fifty was not his fastest, taking 56 balls, but the boundary after he reached his 50 was a gem, a standing-tall whip through mid-on with powerful forearms. Chris Woakes thought he had Dhoni caught at the wicket when he had made six from nine balls but it was impossible for the umpire Vineet Kulkarni to hear a nick in such a din and normal-speed TV replays, which were all that were shown, made things no clearer.
For Woakes, who was playing his first ODI in India after his late inclusion for the injured, Tim Bresnan, it was an examination far beyond anything he had ever experienced. His last two overs went for 24 - Jadeja also taking three boundaries from him in an over - but all England's pace bowlers suffered in the final blast.
Raina had made 55 from 78 balls before he dragged on a pull at Steve Finn and was left bashing the peak of his helmet with his bat in frustration. In as early as the 16th over, Raina prospered primarily against the offspin of James Tredwell, two slog sweeps for six representing the highlight of his innings, and ensured that Tredwell, who took four wickets in the opening ODI in Rajkot, did not create as much mayhem second time around. As for England's bonus allrounder in the opening match, Joe Root, who bowled nine overs relatively unscathed, there was something of a reality check as he only bowled two here.
It was a new Kochi pitch, liable to get slower and lower as the match progressed, leaving Dhoni with a straightforward decision to bat upon winning the toss. England must find all this international cricket on newly-laid surfaces unusual. There was a time, certainly in England, when pitches were chewed over for years before they were deemed suitable for the international game, but modern life sees little value in patience.
India's opening pair did not survive long on it. Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane had both departed by the fifth over. Finn and Dernbach, also impressive with the new ball, had clamoured for several lbw appeals before they prospered by hitting the stumps.
Dernbach's nip-backer to bowl Gambhir through the gate was a delivery made to order. There are few more productive, or less convincing, shots in ODIs than Gambhir's dab through gully, bat hanging away from his body and he had played it the previous ball much to the bowler's frustration. The ball which cut back was the classic retort. Finn also brought a delivery back in his next over, late inswing accounting for Rahane as he shuffled across his crease.
India's frustration grew when Yuvraj Singh fell to an erroneous lbw decision by Steve Davis who did not see - and, like Kulkarni in the case of Dhoni, certainly could not hear in such a deafening atmosphere - a deflection off the glove as he swept at James Tredwell. With no DRS in use, Yuvraj had to take his punishment, although he did so with a stray comment or two.
Kohli, like Raina later in the innings, also made a bat-on-helmet departure, his own promise unfulfilled as he reached 37 in considered fashion, but then flayed a full, wide delivery from Woakes to Ian Bell on the cover boundary.