Ajinkya Rahane's maiden one-day international hundred set the seal on a crushing nine-wicket series-clinching win over England in the fourth ODI at Edgbaston on Tuesday. Victory saw world champions India take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two early wickets, a double blow from which England never recovered, as they were dismissed for a meagre 206 featuring 67 - their first fifty of the series - from recalled all-rounder Moeen Ali.
Rahane (106) and Shikhar Dhawan (97 not out) then pulverised England's attack in an opening stand of 183. India gave their raucous fans, who accounted for some two-thirds of a 21,000 crowd, plenty to cheer with a blizzard of boundaries at the start of their run-chase. Rahane hit four fours in five balls off James Anderson - the best an off-drive.
Left-hander Dhawan, who struggled for runs in India's preceding 3-1 Test series defeat by England, then struck a superb straight drive off fast bowler Steven Finn. The Middlesex paceman suffered more punishment when Rahane pulled him for six. Even off-spinner Ali wasn't spared, Rahane slog-sweeping him for his second six to complete a 60-ball fifty also including six fours. Dhawan too went to fifty, off 57 balls, with a six when he drove Anderson straight back over the bowler's head. Dhawan followed up with a huge legside six, from a free hit, off recalled left-arm paceman Harry Gurney.
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Scoreboard England
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A. Cook c Raina b Kumar 9
A. Hales b Kumar 6
G. Ballance c Rahane b Shami 7
J. Root c Kulkarni b Raina 44
E. Morgan c Raina b Jadeja 32
J. Buttler lbw b Shami 11
M. Ali b Ashwin 67
C. Woakes run out (Raina) 10
S. Finn b Jadeja 2
J. Anderson not out 1
H. Gurney b Shami 3
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Extras: (lb5, w9) 14
Total: (all out, 49.3 overs) 206
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Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Hales), 2-16 (Cook), 3-23 (Ballance), 4-103 (Morgan), 5-114 (Root), 6-164 (Buttler), 7-194 (Woakes), 8-201 (Ali), 9-202 (Finn), 10-206 (Gurney)
Bowling: Kumar 8-3-14-2 (1w); Kulkarni 7-0-35-0 (1w); Shami 7.3-1-28-3 (1w); Ashwin 10-0-48-1 (3w); Jadeja 10-0-40-2 (1w); Raina 7-0-36-1 (2w);
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India
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A. Rahane c Cook b Gurney 106
S. Dhawan not out 97
V. Kohli not out 1
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Extras: (lb5, w2, nb1) 8
Total: (1 wkt, 30.3 overs) 212
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Did not bat: A Rayudu, S Raina, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, D Kulkarni, B Kumar, Mohammed Shami
Fall of wickets: 1-183 (Rahane)
Bowling: Anderson 6-1-38-0; Gurney 6.3-0-51-1 (1nb, 1w); Finn 7-0-38-0 (1w); Woakes 4-0-40-0; Ali 7-0-40-0;
Result: India won by nine wickets
Man-of-the-match: Ajinkya Rahane (IND)
Series: India lead five-match series 3-0
Toss: India
Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS) and Tim Robinson (ENG)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
Remaining Fixture
September 05: 5th ODI, Headingley
Previous Results
August 25: 1st ODI, Bristol: No result (rain)
August 27: 2nd ODI, Cardiff: India won by 133 runs (D/L method)
August 30: 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge: India won by six wickets.
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