India down England for 3-0 series lead

KANPUR: India crafted a 16-run win in the shortened third One-day International against England here on Thursday to go 3-0 up in the seven-match series.

Chasing a modest England total of 240, the home team were 198-5 after 40 overs when poor light forced an early end to the match, already reduced to 49 overs per side after a delayed start due to morning haze.

The Indians were deemed to be ahead of the required total on the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Indian skipper Mahendra Dhoni, anticipating such an end to the match, resorted to cautious batting, well aware than another wicket could spell defeat for his side.

The usually aggressive Dhoni scored 29 not out off 51 balls.

It was opener Virender Sehwag who top-scored for the hosts with 68 while Andrew Flintoff finished as the most successful bowler for the visitors with figures of 3-31 off nine overs.

The Indians, who won in Rajkot and Indore by comfortable margins, lost early wickets to be reduced to a shaky 34-2 by the 10th over.

In-form opener Gautam Gambhir (14) holed out off Flintoff while Suresh Raina inside edged Stuart Broad onto his stumps.

Sehwag, dropped by Samit Patel off his own bowling on 47, went on to complete his 31st ODI fifty with a six off Graeme Swann before being caught high in the air by Paul Collingwood off Flintoff.

He hit eight fours and a six in his 76-ball effort.

Yuvraj Singh, who tormented the visitors with centuries in the first two matches, failed to convert his start into a big score this time his mistimed pull off Flintoff being taken by Broad.

Harbhajan Singh, declared man of the match, took three key wickets to restrict England on an uneven paced Green Park track.

The off-spinner dismissed skipper Kevin Pietersen (13) and Collingwood off successive overs before sending back Owais Shah.

Makeshift opener Ravi Bopara (60) top-scored for the visitors, who rejigged their batting order, and shared 79 runs with Ian Bell (46).

Pietersen (13) lofted part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh for a six but mis-hit a similiar shot against Harbhajan to be caught at long-off.

Harbhajan struck again in his next over when he deceived Collingwood with a "doosra", the ball that moves away from right-handers.

Bopara reached his fourth one-day half-century with a four off Yuvraj but lost his wicket soon after when he was stumped by Dhoni while trying to go for an expansive drive. His 82-ball effort included eight fours.

Flintoff succumbed to the spin of Pathan, being trapped leg before for 26.

Harbhajan then returned to cut short a fine 40-run knock by Shah, the dismissal handing him his 200th wicket in one-day internationals. The fourth game of the seven-match series will be played in Bangalore on Sunday.

Score board

England won toss

England

R S Bopara st Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 60

I R Bell c Dhoni b Patel 46

*K P Pietersen c Khan b Harbhajan Singh 13

P D Collingwood st Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh 1

A Flintoff lbw b Pathan 26

O A Shah c Khan b Harbhajan Singh 40

S R Patel c Raina b I Sharma 26

†M J Prior b I Sharma 5

G P Swann not out 5

S C J Broad c Dhoni b Khan 0

J M Anderson b Patel 1

Extras (lb3, w9, nb5) 17

Total (all out, 48.4 overs) 240

Fall: 1-79, 2-102, 3-106, 4-133, 5-167, 6-203, 7-231, 8-231, 9-235

Bowling: Khan 10-0-45-1 (1w); Patel 6.4-0-36-2; I Sharma 9-0-60-2 (5nb, 2w); Yuvraj Singh 10-0-54-1 (1w); Harbhajan Singh 10-2-31-3 (1w); Pathan 2-0-7-1; Sehwag 1-0-4-0

India

G Gambhir c Broad b Flintoff 14

V Sehwag c Collingwood b Flintoff 68

S K Raina b Broad 1

R G Sharma c Prior b Swann 28

Yuvraj Singh c Broad b Flintoff 38

*†M S Dhoni not out 29

Y K Pathan not out 12

Extras (lb5, w3) 8

Total (5 wkts, 40 overs) 198

Did not bat: Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, I Sharma, M M Patel

Fall: 1-31, 2-34, 3-107, 4-125, 5-177

Bowling: Anderson 6-0-47-0 (1w); Broad 9-2-36-1 (2w); Flintoff 9-0-31-3; Swann 10-0-47-1; Patel 3-0-18-0; Pietersen 3-0-14-0

Result: India won by 16 runs (D/L) Method

Series: India lead the 7-match series 3-0

Man of the Match: Harbhajan Singh

Umpires: A M Saheba and R B Tiffin (Zimbabwe). TV umpire: S L Shastri. Match referee: R S Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Previous matches: November 14 1st ODI Rajkot, India won by 158 runs. November 17 2nd oDI Indore, India won by 54 runs

Remaining matches: Sunday (November 23) 4th ODI, Bangalore (d/n). November 26 5th ODI, Cuttack (d/n). November 29 6th ODI, Guwahati. December 2 7th ODI, Delhi (d/n)

Note: Match delayed due to poor visibility and reduced to 49 overs a side. When more bad light ended the match with India at 198-5 in 40 overs, they were delared winners according the D/L Method as they had required 183 runs to win in 40 overs