Related Links : England’s Tour of India 2011/12 : India Player Pages : England Player Pages : Scorecard of India Vs England, 3rd ODI
Indian batting fired again in the series including the openers as the hosts captured the 5-match Series 3-0 following a thrilling win at Mohali. The homeside won the 3rd ODI by 5 wickets with just four balls to spare after England had given them a stiff target of 299 from 50 overs.
The target wasn’t difficult to achieve for India as the openers – Parthiv Patel (38 from 46 balls with 3 fours) and Ajinkya Rahane put up 79 for the first wicket in 15.4 overs. Rahane went onto lay the foundation for the chase along with Gautam Gambhir (58 from 60 balls with 3 fours and a six) by putting up a solid stand of 110 runs for the 2nd wicket. The young Ajinkya Rahane missed out on a maiden ODI hundred though when he got caught at mid off having scored his career highest of 91 (from 104 balls with 6 fours). He went onto get the Man of the Match award for his fine innings.
England were strongly back in the game when they had India at 235 for 5 in the 42nd over. However, a responsible stand of 65 for the unbroken 6th wicket between Skipper MS Dhoni (35* from 30 balls with 5 fours) and Ravindra Jadeja (26* from 24 balls with 2 fours) saw the hosts through to a victory. MS Dhoni finished the chase in style smashing two fours in two balls in the final over with India needing 7 to win. It was expected to be an easier chase for India as the ground was going to be hit by dew but there was hardly any signs of that and the English spinners bowled decently.
Earlier in the afternoon, England won the toss and elected to bat first. Both the sides remained unchanged for the third time in this series. The visitors were off to a dull start but picked up momentum thanks to Kevin Pietersen’s 64 (from 61 balls with 9 fours) and his 101-run stand for the 3rd wicket with no.3 Jonathan Trott. The English innings came to a superb finish with a good total of 298 for 4 with Samit Patel playing a blinder of a knock scoring 70* from just 43 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Jonathan Trott who came into bat in the 4th over played the sheet anchor’s role and was stranded in the end on and unbeaten 98 (from 116 balls with 8 fours). The pitch at the PCA Stadium in Mohali was greenish in colour and was to suit the seam bowlers but as the pace of the wicket was even, it wasn’t too difficult for the batsmen.