Dhoni dishes out revenge as England wilt

Revenge can be a dish best served hot. So in the steaming heat and humidity of Kochi, and in front of a crowd approaching 70,000, India exacted retribution for their defeat in Rajkot, thrashing England by 127 runs to level the series.

It truly was a hiding, with India scoring far too many runs on a pitch that was always going to spin later in the game. In that respect it was a good toss for India to win, but England allowed the home side to escape in the last 10 overs of their innings, when captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja ran riot.

Then with the ball Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a bustling in-swing bowler, stopped England's promising start dead in its tracks, taking the wickets of Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan. Thereafter there was a gutsy effort from Joe Root and some late hitting from Samit Patel, but it was all in vain as the twirlers -tormented.

It was, though, a match in which there were some poor umpiring decisions, none more erroneous than the caught behind given against Steven Finn off Ravi Ashwin. But it was difficult for the umpires to detect the noise of any edge in such a cauldron of clamour.

Yuvraj Singh was clearly disgruntled at being judged lbw, sweeping at James Tredwell's second ball. And he may well have gloved the ball on to his pad, but no Indian batsman should ever complain about any decision, given his country's intransigence towards the Decision Review System.

And it may have been that India got the biggest break with a decision when Dhoni had made just six. There was a huge caught-behind appeal off Chris Woakes, a late replacement for Tim Bresnan, who has a bruised knee.

It may have been that bat hit pad, but it may also have been that ball touched bat. Dhoni went on to make 72. It was crucial.

"I don't think we quite got the rub of the green in this game," Cook said. "But that was not the main reason why we lost."

Cook himself was unfortunate, judged lbw off Kumar with the ball pitching just outside leg stump.

But Pietersen was not unlucky, just ill-considered in his shot selection. He had been playing delightfully. He looked patient and assured at the beginning of his innings, and the boundaries had begun to flow without unnecessary risk. It was game on.

Then suddenly in the 15th over he got himself into a terrible muddle against Kumar. Presumably looking to hit square on the off side he opened himself up, but the ball ducked in late, and he was bowled for 42.

When Morgan edged his second ball behind, England were 73 for four. Kumar had dispatched England's two most destructive batsmen in the same over. Noise? It was a din, which Cook called an "invisible pressure" afterwards. Game over? Yes.

India's innings had been a curious mix. They struggled horribly at the start, with Finn and Jade Dernbach using the tiniest hint of seam movement to superb effect. Both openers went bowled, Gautam Gambhir by Dernbach and Ajinkya Rahane by Finn. Neither moved their feet, a tell-tale sign of confidence slipping away.

But from 119 for four in the 27th over Dhoni and Suresh Raina rebuilt the innings carefully. Raina was not at his best, but twice he slog-swept Tredwell over midwicket for six.

Interestingly Cook opted for Patel as his primary option in the fifth bowler's slot, introducing him in the 11th over, immediately after the mandatory Powerplay of 10 overs, and only gave Root two overs in the middle of the innings. But Patel responded excellently, bowling a full quota of 10 overs for 43. It was as well as he has bowled for some time.

Raina and Dhoni reached the batting Powerplay in over 36 at 156 for four, but, remarkably, only 21 were made in five overs, with the former also dismissed for 55, inside-edging Finn's slower ball on to his stumps.

But then the left-handed Ravindra Jadeja entered the arena (and this was some arena) and immediately changed the innings. Dhoni is often cautious at the start, and he had certainly been so here, but Jadeja's positivity, even if some of his leg-side hitting was a little rustic, energised him.

From the last 10 overs 108 runs were plundered with some astonishing hitting, not least when Dhoni's 'helicopter' shot, that quirky whirl of the bat with no follow through, was in evidence. "He's probably the best player in the world in those situations in these conditions," Cook said.

Only from the second ball of the last over was Dhoni eventually dismissed, caught at deep cover off Dernbach, who had taken some serious late punishment. Dhoni and Jadeja put on 96 in just 60 balls.

Jadeja hit the last ball of the innings for six over midwicket and ended with 61 not out from just 37 balls.

He also then took two for 12 in his seven overs with his left-arm spin, which spun alarmingly at times. And he finished off the match by running out Dernbach with his throw to Dhoni. He had some match. And so did his team.

This is how it always used to be for England one-day teams in India; facing plundering batsmen and wily spinners on turning pitches. This

England team have been warned.