India win magnificently !

England at the moment are badly placed at 134/6, needing 301 to win.

Dhoni, Raina, Gambhir, Jadeja and Kohli powered India to 300. And England batsmen made heavy weather of the Indian attack.

The same pattern continues. England who thrashed Australia in Tests, were humiliated by the Kangaroos in the one dayers, 6-1.

A similar pattern is developing, with England not coming upto the mark in ODIs. The Indian batsmen were aggressive in posting 300, and English batsmen were short of aggression !

Ashwin took three and Jadeja three and England were all out for 174. Yadav clean bowled Swann and Patel ! A good performance by India.

One wonders about the selection of Parthiv Patel and Vinay Kumar. Shikhar Dhawan and Varun Aaron should have been there in their place.

Meanwhile, Cook admitted that England had been outplayed in all departments of the game.

"It was an important toss to win. We saw at the end that the ball kept low. But credit to India. They outplayed us in all departments today." said the English captain.

"We're going to learn from this, and that's the beauty of a five-match series."

Indian medium pacers, Kumar and Yadav bowled well while the spinners Ashwin and Jadeja sparkled in the slow conditions, sharing 9 wickets between them. Cook is of the view that tackling the slow bowlers in slow conditions will be a great challenge.

"We know that (playing spin) is an issue, and that's a skill thing. We're going to work hard on that in the next couple of days," he said.

Dhoni said revenge is a strong word. "For us, it is not about revenge. Revenge is a strong feeling, it is a strong word. What is important for us is to go out on the field and perform well."

"It is important to win the games because if you are not winning too many games, (it is) a bit of a problem in the sense you can't enjoy to the extent you do when you are winning. Winning and losing is part and parcel of the game. The losing streak was a bit too long," said the whirlwind wicket keeper.

Dhoni feels the absence of dew aided his bowlers.

"If you see the ODIs in England, all the players did very well. Because of rains, it was difficult for our spinners to bowl consistently. We did well in the second half of the England series. Today there was no dew. If the conditions are slightly in their favour, the bowlers can make us win games."

The timing of the series is uncertain, as you cant tell about the dew.

"If you are close to November or December, you know there will be dew and blindly you will opt to field after winning the toss so that bowlers get an upper hand. It is a bit tricky. It was good that in this game there was no dew. Spinners gripped the ball well, they bowled the right length. Fast bowlers got a bit of reverse swing also; outfield was very dry and the wicket was also dry."

Stating that his immediate target was 250-260 runs, he averred that "which we thought was good enough score provided there is no dew on the field in the second half".

His innings was invaluable for the team.

"It was a valuable inning like quite a few others I have played in my short career. It was a very calculated inning. Quite a few shots that I played, I generally don't play those shots. I have changed my game and adapted to number six position."

His ability to go over the top with helicopter shots brought home the bacon. "At time it pays off. It was a precious inning."

He said he is happy with the performance of his new bowlers, who with experience can be weapons both in India and abroad.

"It's a grooming period we are going through. We have few bowlers who are new to the scenario. I feel as a unit they have done very well in this game."

Dhoni's brutal 87 not out, which won him the Man of the Match Award, was reminiscent of his 91 not out in the World Cup Final. He and Jadeja crushed England in the death overs !

After 34 overs, India were struggling at 134/4 in 34 overs and 150/4 in 35 overs, when Dhoni, Raina and Jadeja scored another 161 in the next 16 overs to annihilate England. Raina and Jadeja hit two sixes each and Dhoni one, as English bowlers were hit to all corners of the field.