England 'fell short again' in ODI with India

Alastair Cook blamed England's failure with the bat for a fourth consecutive one-day international defeat in India

England batsmen were not able to put together big scores, but India and man of the match Suresh Raina had no such issues.
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Alastair Cook blamed England's failure with the bat for a fourth consecutive one-day international defeat in India.

Cook's team have failed to build major totals throughout the limited-overs tour, with batsmen frequently falling short of the big scores that appear to come so naturally to this side in Test cricket.

In Mumbai yesterday, they lost by six wickets after being bowled out for 220, a total India overhauled with 59 balls remaining.

Cook told Sky Sports: "We fell short again. Lots of our top order got in but it's been quite similar on this tour ... 30s and 40s.

"In Indian conditions you have to get 70, 80, 90 to push up towards 300. It's hard for new batsmen coming in and you can lose wickets in clusters."

MS Dhoni, his victorious counterpart, was pleased by his side's efforts once again, particularly in their traditional weak discipline of fielding, and is eyeing a 5-0 clean sweep in Kolkata tomorrow.

"We will try our best for 5-0. We have played good cricket overall and we'd like to end on a good note," Dhoni said. "We'll have to play good cricket again and we will be well prepared to win the last one. The youngsters in this side are very good fielders. Even the fast bowlers are new and fresh and they can put in a bit more effort. All the guys are giving more than 100 per cent in the field and, in close games, 10 runs can matter."

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina hit half-centuries as the hosts made light of a bad start to overhaul England's modest 220 all out in the 41st over of their innings in the day-night match.

Raina smashed 80 off 62 balls and Kohli made an unbeaten 86, the pair having put on 131 for the fourth wicket after India were reduced to 46 for three in the 14th over.

The emphatic victory was set up by the bowlers who shot England out for a modest total in India's first match at the Wankhede Stadium since winning the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in April.

Ravichandran Ashwin, the off-spinner, shattered the top order with three for 38, before 21-year-old debutant fast bowler Varun Aaron polished off the tail with three for 24 on a slow wicket.

Tim Bresnan top-scored with 45 and Kevin Pietersen made 41, but five England batsmen failed to reach double-figures.

In Port Elizabeth, South Africa cruised to an 80-run win over Australia in their second one-day international at St George's Park to level the three-match series 1-1.

The hosts set Australia a daunting target of 303, with Jacques Kallis hitting 76 off 88 balls and David Miller helping himself to 59.

Despite David Warner's 74 in reply, the visitors came up well short on 223. Australia captain Michael Clarke was gracious in defeat. "We were outplayed in all facets of the game," he said. "They showed how to bat on a slow track, they executed with the ball and in the field."