Leeds: Joe Root sparkled with his second ODI hundred as England's batting finally came good to give India a reasonably stiff target of 295 in the inconsequential fifth and final cricket one-dayer here today.
Root's second ODI hundred helped England reach 294/7 in their allotted 50 overs. Root scored 113 runs (108 balls, 10 fours, three sixes) as the home side scored their highest total in four ODIs so far.
Root added 108 runs off just 71 balls with Jos Buttler (49) for the fifth wicket scoring at a break-neck pace of 8 runs per over.
For India, Mohammad Shami (2-52) was again the best bowler on display, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-45), Umesh Yadav (1-46), R Ashwin (1-49) and Suresh Raina (1-32) also took a wicket each. Ravindra Jadeja (0-66) had an off-day.
Earlier, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again won the toss and opted to field first. The visitors made one change, bringing in Umesh Yadav for Dhawal Kulkarni, while England made two changes to their line-up from the previous game.
Gary Ballance and Harry Gurney were left out with James Tredwell and Ben Stokes coming in for them.
Alastair Cook (46 runs, 64 balls, 6 fours) and Alex Hales (4) opened the innings then, looking for a good start to put India under some pressure, but it wasn't meant to be despite a quick getaway.
Hales looked to be aggressive and played a false pull shot to be caught at mid-wicket off Yadav in the 4th over. Moeen Ali (9), given a promotion after his blitzkrieg fifty in the previous match, was out three overs later, again looking to be too aggressive as he smacked the ball straight to third man.
It was looking like routine for England at 39/2, but Cook and Root rebuilt the innings. They added 52 runs for the third wicket, with the English skipper enjoying quite a bit of luck during his stay at the wicket.
He had nicked the ball twice through the absent second slip—on 9 in the third over and then at 19 in the seventh over.
