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25 overs India 89 for 5 (Raina 33*, Jadeja 9*) v England
Tim Bresnan took two wickets in two balls to give England the early breakthrough they wanted © BCCI
The England attack made regular breakthroughs on a crisp morning in Dharamsala to leave India gasping for breath and struggling to set a challenging total. Two wickets apiece for Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn, plus a tenth of the series for James Tredwell, vindicated Alastair Cook's decision to insert India and although Suresh Raina maintained his run of good form, he was in desperate need of a partner to stay with him.
On a hard, fast surface with enough juice to make a Tibetan monk sit up and blink, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell to successive balls in the fourth over, the top four batsmen had all departed before 50 runs had been scored, and MS Dhoni, the hosts' talisman, fell to Finn for 15.
At 1,317 metres above sea level and with the Himalayas for a backdrop, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium is among the loftiest international grounds in the world. In the thin air, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni must have been relishing the prospect of bombarding the stands with even greater regularity than is usual but a fear of flying objects did not prevent Cook from choosing to bowl first.
Bresnan, preferred to Stuart Meaker despite an impending break to investigate the condition of his troublesome elbow, provided the early incursions England sought in bright, sharp conditions. There was initial seam movement on offer for Finn, who brought one back in the first over to hit Gautam Gambhir on the glove as he tried to leave, and Bresnan also started with a good, probing line against ersatz opener Sharma.
Having timed one exquisite square drive for four from the last ball of Bresnan's first over, Rohit attempted a reprise to a slightly wider delivery that drifted further away from his crease-bound push, the ball slicing off the outside edge to the right of Tredwell at second slip, where he took a tumbling catch. The very next ball produced a facsimile of a loose drive from Kohli, though Tredwell went in for a bit of variety on this occasion, juggling the ball three times in front of the kneeling Cook before grasping it for good with a giddy grin.
When Yuvraj got a thick edge to point trying to turn Finn through square leg, the match was beginning to resemble an early season encounter in England - at least in chilly temperature and helpful bowling conditions, if not mountain setting. It could have been even better for England had chances in successive overs against Raina stuck but he remained pugnaciously entrenched at the halfway stage.
Before the match, Raina had expressed a desire to usurp one of his colleagues up the order and he got his wish to bat for longer, albeit still at No. 5, coming in with less than seven overs bowled. Immediately he was given a taste of the high life, with Finn hitting him on the shoulder first ball, and he punched a low return just wide of the same bowler two overs later. A better opportunity was presented to Tredwell, again at second slip, off the bowling of Chris Woakes but he could not cling on one-handed as he flung himself low to his left.
Gambhir had prospered initially against the quick bowlers, a straight drive off Bresnan the pick of his five boundaries, but just as he and Raina appeared to be dragging the match back towards a more subcontinental equilibrium England struck again. Tredwell has spent the one-day series doing a passable impression of Graeme Swann, particularly to left-handers, and he partially atoned for his drop of Raina in having Gambhir caught by the sprawling Ian Bell at point, the batsman failing to get on top of a cut shot. The wicket came from Tredwell's second ball, an immediate, Swann-esque intervention that left India suffering from a touch of altitude sickness at 49 for 4.
Dhoni had opted not give Cheteshwar Pujara an ODI debut and it appeared India could have done with a monkish presence at the crease. When Finn won an lbw decision against Dhoni, England's delight was palpable and India were casting around for someone to save the innings - in Raina, they had perhaps one last spin of the prayer wheel.
Tim Bresnan took two wickets in two balls to give England the early breakthrough they wanted © BCCI
The England attack made regular breakthroughs on a crisp morning in Dharamsala to leave India gasping for breath and struggling to set a challenging total. Two wickets apiece for Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn, plus a tenth of the series for James Tredwell, vindicated Alastair Cook's decision to insert India and although Suresh Raina maintained his run of good form, he was in desperate need of a partner to stay with him.
On a hard, fast surface with enough juice to make a Tibetan monk sit up and blink, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell to successive balls in the fourth over, the top four batsmen had all departed before 50 runs had been scored, and MS Dhoni, the hosts' talisman, fell to Finn for 15.
At 1,317 metres above sea level and with the Himalayas for a backdrop, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium is among the loftiest international grounds in the world. In the thin air, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni must have been relishing the prospect of bombarding the stands with even greater regularity than is usual but a fear of flying objects did not prevent Cook from choosing to bowl first.
Bresnan, preferred to Stuart Meaker despite an impending break to investigate the condition of his troublesome elbow, provided the early incursions England sought in bright, sharp conditions. There was initial seam movement on offer for Finn, who brought one back in the first over to hit Gautam Gambhir on the glove as he tried to leave, and Bresnan also started with a good, probing line against ersatz opener Sharma.
Having timed one exquisite square drive for four from the last ball of Bresnan's first over, Rohit attempted a reprise to a slightly wider delivery that drifted further away from his crease-bound push, the ball slicing off the outside edge to the right of Tredwell at second slip, where he took a tumbling catch. The very next ball produced a facsimile of a loose drive from Kohli, though Tredwell went in for a bit of variety on this occasion, juggling the ball three times in front of the kneeling Cook before grasping it for good with a giddy grin.
When Yuvraj got a thick edge to point trying to turn Finn through square leg, the match was beginning to resemble an early season encounter in England - at least in chilly temperature and helpful bowling conditions, if not mountain setting. It could have been even better for England had chances in successive overs against Raina stuck but he remained pugnaciously entrenched at the halfway stage.
Before the match, Raina had expressed a desire to usurp one of his colleagues up the order and he got his wish to bat for longer, albeit still at No. 5, coming in with less than seven overs bowled. Immediately he was given a taste of the high life, with Finn hitting him on the shoulder first ball, and he punched a low return just wide of the same bowler two overs later. A better opportunity was presented to Tredwell, again at second slip, off the bowling of Chris Woakes but he could not cling on one-handed as he flung himself low to his left.
Gambhir had prospered initially against the quick bowlers, a straight drive off Bresnan the pick of his five boundaries, but just as he and Raina appeared to be dragging the match back towards a more subcontinental equilibrium England struck again. Tredwell has spent the one-day series doing a passable impression of Graeme Swann, particularly to left-handers, and he partially atoned for his drop of Raina in having Gambhir caught by the sprawling Ian Bell at point, the batsman failing to get on top of a cut shot. The wicket came from Tredwell's second ball, an immediate, Swann-esque intervention that left India suffering from a touch of altitude sickness at 49 for 4.
Dhoni had opted not give Cheteshwar Pujara an ODI debut and it appeared India could have done with a monkish presence at the crease. When Finn won an lbw decision against Dhoni, England's delight was palpable and India were casting around for someone to save the innings - in Raina, they had perhaps one last spin of the prayer wheel.