Birmingham, Sep 3: Ajinkya Rahane's maiden ODI ton and Shikhar Dhawan's unbeaten 97 helped India beat England by nine wickets in the fourth game at Edgbaston in Birmingham. England were restricted to 206 and India have chased it down in 30.3 overs. Dhawan finished the game with a handsome six as India now lead the series 3-0, with just one more match to be played.
India last won a bilateral ODI series in England in 1990. Back then, the tourists won both the matches in the two-match series -- at Leeds (by six wickets) and Nottingham (by five wickets).
Opting to bowl, the visitors first restricted England to a modest 206 and then overwhelmed the target in 30.3 overs to record their third consecutive victory in the ODI series at the the Edgbaston, in what turned out to be yet another lopsided contest.
While Rahane destroyed the pedestrian English attack with a 100-ball 106 with the help of 10 fours and four sixes, an woefully out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan (97 not out; 11x4s, 4x6s) also re-discovered his touch as the opening duo put on 183-run partnership off 28.4 overs to lay the foundation for the comfortable win.
It was a dramatic turnaround for India after the shambolic 1-3 drubbing in the recent Test series, in which the batsmen struggled to cope up with the swinging ball.
Earlier electing to bowl, Indian bowlers produced a disciplined effort to bundle out England for a below-par 206 with Moeen Ali's 67 being the top-score for the hosts.
Ali's second ODI fifty guided England to a score of respectability as the hosts were bowled out in 49.3 overs as they wasted a perfect first-use of a good batting surface with only three batsmen crossing the 20-run mark.
Ali faced 50 balls, hitting four boundaries and three sixes, while Mohammad Shami (3 for 28) ended up as India's best bowler on the day. He was ably supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2 for 14) and Ravindra Jadeja (2 for 40), while R Ashwin (1 for 48) and Suresh Raina (1 for 36) were the other wicket-takers.
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