INDIA comfortably reached their target of 258 to secure a five-wicket win and a series victory in the fourth one-day international against England in Mohali.

England, asked to bat first in misty conditions at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, could muster only 257-7 from their 50 overs in a faltering innings in a match they needed to win to take the five-match series down to a decider.
But Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side reached their victory target with 15 balls remaining to lead the series 3-1 ahead of the fifth and final ODI in Dharamsala on Sunday after inflicting a third successive defeat upon Ashley Giles’s side.
Rohit Sharma scored a fluent 83 and Suresh Raina was left unbeaten on 89 not out with the duo starring in the Indian chase, while Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen each scored 76 and Joe Root produced a superb 57 not out in vain for the tourists.
Jos Buttler became England’s 13th different wicketkeeper in one-day cricket since 2002, replacing the out-of-form Craig Kieswetter, though Cook again had the much-criticised Jade Dernbach and Samit Patel in his ranks.
Cook got the England innings off to a solid start with three boundaries off Shami Ahmed’s third over, but Bell was less commanding as he fell in ugly fashion, charging Ishant Sharma and edging down third man’s throat.
It took Pietersen 13 balls to get off the mark, and after 22 deliveries he had only two runs, but he was a determined presence at the crease in support of his more fluent captain.
Cook looked unmovable at the crease as he moved past his half-century, and it took a desperately poor decision from umpire Sudhir Asnani to halt his fine knock, giving the opener out lbw with the delivery from Ravi Ashwin pitching well outside the leg stump.
England’s middle order suddenly imploded in familiar fashion, as Eoin Morgan (three) and Samit Patel (one) came and went in quick succession, falling to poor shots. Morgan chipped a seemingly innocuous ball from Ashwin to long-on, while Patel chipped a return catch to Ravindra Jadeja.
An outside edge took Pietersen past 50 in 84 balls – his slowest ever ODI half-century – but he proceeded to shift up a gear as he struck four more boundaries and a quite brilliant six before he was eventually clean-bowled by a yorker from Sharma.
Root, who was surprisingly demoted to bat at number six after Patel, played fluently at the other end, scoring at around a run-a-ball and even hammering an Ashwin delivery for six and cutting him for four more. The Yorkshireman was dropped in comical fashion by Raina with 42 to his name, but he continued undeterred to reach his maiden half-century, and he was left unbeaten at the end of the innings with Buttler chipping in with a quick-fire 14.
Jadeja finished with three for 39 off his 10 overs, and it would prove a decisive contribution with the ball as England’s total looked under-par.
Gautam Gambhir compiled 10 runs off 16 balls before he was caught behind off Tim Bresnan, but Sharma was a much more assured presence at the other end as he busily batted alongside Virat Kohli. The pair put on 52 runs for the second wicket before Kohli was caught and bowled by James Tredwell, who finished with two for 54 from his 10 overs.
Yuvraj Singh was Tredwell’s second scalp, going for just three after having faced 16 balls in frustrating fashion, but that only served to bring the imperious Raina to the crease, who immediately looked in good nick.
Steven Finn thought he had claimed a valuable dismissal as he had Raina caught behind at slip by Cook, only for drama to ensue as umpire Steve Davis called a dead ball. The bowler had clipped the stumps and removed the bails in his follow through, a problem he has struggled with for several months. It was a cruel blow for the tourists, with the long-standing issue coming back to haunt the fast bowler.
Raina continued merrily after Sharma was trapped lbw for 83 by Finn, and the number five plundered nine boundaries as he ensured that India were always up with the required rate.
Captain Dhoni and number Jadeja added 19 and 21 not out, respectively, to accompany Raina, and England could not muster the sufficient breakthroughs at regular intervals to disrupt the hosts’ chase.
It was a convincing win for Dhoni’s side, who assumed an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, having lost the opening match in Rajkot. (Eurosport)