Win over England not revenge, says Dhoni

India's one-day series win over England should not be regarded as revenge for the side's humiliating defeats to their rivals a few months ago, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said.

The Indian captain added he was disappointed at England's behaviour on the field, saying the strategy to intimidate the opposition was clearly not paying dividends.

"Revenge is a very strong word and should not be used in sport," Dhoni told reporters after the world champions scored a five-wicket win in Mohali on Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

"On one hand we talk about the spirit of the game and on the other we talk about revenge. It should not be like that."

Young batsman Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 91 as India surpassed England's challenging 298-4 with four balls to spare after Dhoni smashed two boundaries in the final over.

The series win came after a disastrous tour of England in July-September when India were blanked 4-0 in the Tests to concede the number one spot and also lost the one-dayers 3-0.

"I am quite happy with the performance of the team when it comes to the one-day format. Victory is always a good feeling," said Dhoni, who led India to World Cup glory in April.

India won without seven top stars, including Sachin Tendulkar, who were part of the team that beat Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Mumbai.

Dhoni, however, warned England to tone down their aggressive behaviour on the field, which earned the wrath of the umpires during the second game in New Delhi on Monday.

That match was marred by verbal exchanges between Indian batsmen and England's fielders, and the tension also appeared to spill over on the field in Mohali.

"There were lots of gestures flowing around in the field when it came to the England side," Dhoni said. "But I don't think that strategy is working.

"It's not only about 'giving it' to the opposition. You have to be fair.

"If our players are saying something to the opposition, which happens at times, I don't want them to get really personal or say things that are not within the guidelines.

"A bit of chit-chat is fine, because that makes the game interesting. You don't always want a friendly series, as long as things don't get too personal.

"But I think they (England) should change the plan for the next two games," the Indian captain said.

England fast bowler Tim Bresnan was quoted earlier this week as saying that his team was using verbal volleys to intimidate batsmen since Indian pitches offered no assistance to the bowlers.

"It's part of the game," Bresnan said. "We can't really use the ball to intimidate as much as we would like, so we have to do other things to get into the batsman's bubble, like a little bit of a word or a look or a stare."

England captain Alastair Cook was, however, more concerned about trying to avoid a 5-0 whitewash.

"We prepared as well as we could have prepared, but just have not quite delivered," Cook told reporters.

"But we've got two more games to go and need to pick ourselves up when we've already lost the series. That is the challenge.

"There was desperation out there to try to win, and we've got to keep that desperation for the next two games."

The fourth one-dayer will be played in Mumbai on Sunday before the final game in Kolkata on October 25.

England will end the tour with a one-off Twenty20 international in Kolkata on Oct 29.

India edge out England in one-day thriller

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed two fours in the final over as India beat England by five wickets on Thursday to take a decisive 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.

Young batsman Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 91 and Gautam Gambhir hit 58 as the world champions surpassed England's challenging 298-4 with four balls to spare in a thrilling day-night match.

India were struggling at 235-5 in the 42nd over before Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja steered the hosts home with an unbeaten 65-run stand for the sixth wicket.

With 17 needed off the last two overs, the pair took 10 runs in the 49th bowled by Jade Dernbach, before Dhoni smashed the first two balls of the final over from Tim Bresnan for boundaries to clinch victory.

Dhoni returned unbeaten on 35 and Jadeja was on 26 as the new-look Indians, without seven players who won the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in April, took the series.

The tourists, who were thrashed by 126 runs and eight wickets in the previous two games, needed a win to stay afloat in the series.

England began well as an unbeaten 98 from Jonathan Trott inspired a batting revival that helped them post 298-4.

Samit Patel pounded an unbeaten 70 off 43 balls and Kevin Pietersen scored 64 as England's batting finally came good after skipper Alastair Cook won the toss.

When India batted, Rahane put on 79 for the first wicket with Parthiv Patel and 111 for the second with Gambhir to lift India to a comfortable 190-1 by the 34th over.

England hit back with four wickets for 45 runs as fast bowler Steven Finn removed Gambhir and Rahane, Bresnan dismissed Suresh Raina for zero and Graeme Swann trapped Virat Kohli leg-before for 35.

But Dhoni and Jadeja turned the game around with a match-winning stand in front of 25,000 excited home fans.

"We back ourselves to chase whatever the opposition scored and we have been doing that for the past few years," said the Indian captain.

"The top order did the job for us. The dew was a factor because the ball started to come nicely on to the bat in the evening. The way Rahane batted with Gambhir was crucial.

"We lost wickets at the wrong time though and needed to get another partnership going. It was good that Jadeja and myself got it."

Cook was distraught at another loss.

"It's a tough defeat to take, especially when it was so close," the England captain said. "Our fielding has been slightly below par, which is unusual for us, and today it cost us 20 to 25 runs in the field.

"Six an over was always a tough chase, but credit to the way MS (Dhoni) and Jadeja finished it off."

The fourth one-dayer will be played in Mumbai on Sunday before the final game in Kolkata on October 25.

England will end the tour with a one-off Twenty20 international in Kolkata on Oct 29.

Scorecard

England:

A. Cook lbw b Vinay 3

C. Kieswetter b Kohli 36

J. Trott not out 98

K. Pietersen lbw b Jadeja 64

R. Bopara b Praveen 24

S. Patel not out 70

Extras: (lb1, w2) 3

Total (for four wickets, 50 overs) 298

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Cook), 2-53 (Kieswetter), 3-154 (Pietersen), 4-195 (Bopara).

Bowling: Praveen 10-0-56-1 (w2), Vinay 9-1-64-1, Kohli 3-0-20-1, Yadav 10-0-71-0, Ashwin 10-0-45-0, Jadeja 8-0-41-1.

India:

P. Patel lbw b Bresnan 38

A. Rahane c Cook b Finn 91

G. Gambhir c Pietersen b Finn 58

V. Kohli lbw b Swann 35

S. Raina c Pietersen b Bresnan 0

M. Dhoni not out 35

R. Jadeja not out 26

Extras: (lb8, nb2, w7) 17

Total (for five wickets, 49.2 overs) 300

Fall of wickets: 1-79 (Patel), 2-190 (Gambhir), 3-212 (Rahane), 4-217 (Raina), 5-235 (Kohli).

Bowling: Finn 10-0-44-2, Bresnan 7.2-0-62-2 (nb1, w2), Dernbach 10-0-69-0 (nb1, w3), S. Patel 10-0-50-0, Swann 10-0-59-1 (w1), Bopara 2-0-8-0 (w1)

India won by five wickets, lead 3-0 in five-match series.

Toss: England

Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Sudhir Asnani (IND)

TV umpire S. Ravi (IND)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.