England beats India by 3 wickets to reach tri-series final

Photo: AP

Perth, Australia: James Taylor and Jos Buttler made half centuries in a 125-run partnership which steered England to a three-wicket win over India on Friday and into the final of cricket’s one-day international tri-series.

Stuart Binny took 3-33 to reduce England to 66-5 as it chased India’s meager total of 200, before Taylor (82) and Buttler (67) joined in a sixth-wicket partnership which shored up a shaky innings.

England will face Australia in Sunday’s final on the same WACA Ground. The match may also act as a dress rehearsal for their meeting at Melbourne on Feb. 14 to open the Cricket World Cup.

India’s winless summer in Australia continued with its defeat, which excluded it from the tournament final and left it with several World Cup selection riddles to ponder.

Its total of 200 in 48.1 overs, achieved after it lost the toss and was asked to bat, always seemed inadequate and unlikely to test England. But the pitch at the WACA was corrugated and unpredictable, providing variable bounce which made survival difficult and confident strokeplay almost impossible.

Ajinkya Rahane made a gritty 73 from 101 balls, putting on 83 for the first wicket with Shikhar Dhawan and holding together the India innings which unraveled when that opening partnership was broken.

From 83-1, India slumped to 165-9 and only a last-wicket contribution of 35 from Mohammed Shami (25) and Mohit Sharma (7) carried India to 200.

Steve Finn took 3-36, again exploiting a pitch with bounce, while Moeen Ali took 2-35, as conditions also supported spinners. Chris Woakes took 2-47 and Stuart Broad 2-56.

England also quickly realized the difficulty of batting on a pitch on which some deliveries bounced steeply and others slid through below stump height. Taylor was the only member of the England top order who was able to dig in, and he wasn’t able to establish a lengthy or productive partnership until wicketkeeper Buttler joined him at 66-5.

“I’ve been waiting in the wings for a few years now to get my opportunity,” Taylor said. “I’m trying to get myself settled in the side and put in performances like that to win the game.

“That’s the most important thing: Me trying to get my side over the line, and I managed to do that today.”

Ian Bell was out for 10, trapped lbw by a ball from Mohit Sharma, which shot through low after previous deliveries bounced to head height. Ali fell for 17, Joe Root for 3, captain Eoin Morgan for 2, and Ravi Bopara for 4 as England struggled to stave off a totally unexpected defeat.

Binny removed Root, Morgan and Bopara in quick succession, each with the last ball of an over.

Taylor and Buttler then settled down to the hard graft that was necessary to turn the innings around. Scoring was never easy — there were only 14 boundaries in the England innings and the run-rate only occasionally crept over 4 per over — but both players showed grit and powers of concentration.

Taylor reached his 50 from 86 balls with only two boundaries, and Buttler from 59 balls, passing the milestone with successive fours off Sharma. The century partnership came soon after, from 123 balls.

Taylor finally fell in the 44^th over, caught in the deep with 10 runs needed for victory, and Buttler was out two runs later leaving Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad to collect the final runs.

Though there was some anxiety in its victory, England might be reasonable happy with its allround performance as the World Cup approaches. Morgan suggested before the match this was England’s “best team,” and he was likely pleased with the bowling effort if not the top-order batting. Some of the top order’s struggle can be ascribed to a difficult pitch.

India may still face some selection issues. Dhawan remains out of form but will likely be persevered with at the top of the order.

The bowling lineup is more problematic, but Binny proved his allround value. Ishant Sharma missed the match with injury but will return to add another fast bowling option at the World Cup.

“What’s important is to look at the complete balance of the side,” captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. “We are playing with two spinners and three seamers, the reason being (the spinners) can bat a bit.

“If we go in with four seamers and one spinner the batting order really suffers. To be good and to be really consistent, the lower order needs to perform. I feel it’s a catch 22 situation.”