India take 3-0 lead in ODI series

Kanpur, India: India claimed a 16-run win over England under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a weather-hit third one-dayer on Thursday, taking a 3-0 lead in the seven-match series.

India, chasing England's 240 all out, were 198 for five after 40 overs when poor light forced the players off the field to abruptly end what was developing into a keen finish.

The hosts were 16 runs ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis method for weather-interrupted games and were declared winners in hazy conditions.

Poor light had forced a 45-minute delay in the morning, reducing the game to 49 overs per side.

Opener Virender Sehwag top-scored with 68 to lead the chase against England, who put up a vastly improved display after losing the first two games by 158 runs and 54 runs respectively.

Bad light

All rounder Andrew Flintoff, who scored 26, grabbed the key wickets of openers Gautam Gambhir (14), Sehwag and the in-form Yuvraj Singh (38), who hit back-to-back match-winning hundreds in the first two games.

However, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29 not out) and Yusuf Pathan (12) hung on to make sure India held wickets in hand which kept them ahead when bad light intervened.

All rounder Ravi Bopara top-scored with 60 as makeshift opener and added 79 runs with Ian Bell (46) to lift a shaky England before they were all out with two balls left.

Bopara struck eight fours until he was fourth out, stumped against Yuvraj's occasional left-arm spin. Harbhajan Singh grabbed three wickets as slow bowlers once again kept a tight leash on the scoring.

SCOREBOARD

England:

Ravi Bopara st Dhoni b Yuvraj 60
Ian Bell c Dhoni b Patel 46
Kevin Pietersen c Khan b Harbhajan 13
Paul Collingwood st Dhoni b Harbhajan 1
Andrew Flintoff lbw b Pathan 26
Owais Shah c Khan b Harbhajan 40
Samit Patel c Raina b Ishant 26
Matt Prior b Ishant 5
Graeme Swann not out 5
Stuart Broad c Dhoni b Khan 0
James Anderson b Patel 1
Extras (lb 3, w 9, nb 5) 17

Total (all out in 48.4 overs) 240

Fall of wickets: 1-79 (Bell, 14.3 overs), 2-102 (Pietersen, 19.1), 3-106 (Collingwood, 21.2), 4-133 (Bopara, 28.5), 5-167 (Flintoff, 36.2), 6-203 (Shah, 43.4), 7-231 (Patel, 46.4), 8-231 (Prior, 46.5), 9-235 (Broad, 47.5)

Bowling:

Zaheer Khan 10 0 45 1 (1w)
Munaf Patel 6.4 0 36 2
Ishant Sharma 9 0 60 2 (5nb, 2w)
Yuvraj Singh 10 0 54 1 (1w)
Harbhajan Singh 10 2 31 3 (1w)
Yusuf Pathan 2 0 7 1
Virender Sehwag 1 0 4 0

India:

Gautam Gambhir c Broad b Flintoff 14
Virender Sehwag c Collingwood b Flintoff 68
Suresh Raina b Broad 1
Rohit Sharma c Prior b Swann 28
Yuvraj Singh c Broad b Flintoff 38
Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 29
Yusuf Pathan not out 12

Extras (lb 5, w 3) 8

Total (for five wickets in 40 overs) 198

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Gambhir, 6.5), 2-34 (Raina, 9.1), 3-107 (Rohit Sharma, 22.4), 4-125 (Sehwag, 25.2), 5-177 (Yuvraj Singh, 35.6)

Bowling:

James Anderson 6 0 47 0 (1w)
Stuart Broad 9 2 36 1 (2w)
Andrew Flintoff 9 0 31 3
Graeme Swann 10 0 47 1
Samit Patel 3 0 18 0
Kevin Pietersen 3 0 14 0

• Toss: England, who chose to bat first
  Result: India won by 16 runs (Duckworth-Lewis Method)
  Man of the Match: Harbhajan Singh (India)
  Umpires: Ameish Saheba (India) and Russel Tiffin (Zimbabwe)
  TV umpire: Suresh Shastri (India)
  Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Do you think England can bounce back from this point in the series? Is the series under the threat of becoming one-sided now?