England vs. India, 6th Tri-Series ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

England overcame a poor pitch and some spirited India bowling to book their place in the Carlton Mid One-Day International Tri-Series final.

India posted exactly 200 on a pitch that was decidedly uneven and they had England on the ropes at 66 for 5.

However, James Taylor and Joss Buttler put on 125 to help secure a three-wicket win and a place in the final with Australia.

Paul Kane/Getty Images

England captain Eoin Morgan asked India to have first hit, and for some time it did not look the wisest move as openers Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan built a solid foundation. But having advanced to 38, Dhawan edged Chris Woakes behind to Buttler.

Moeen Ali is establishing himself in the England side as a batsman who is useful with the ball.

The spinner showed his value with the ball by removing India’s star man Virat Kohli and the dangerous Suresh Raina.

Both Kohli and Raina attempted to hit Moeen over the top, but failed to make true contact and were caught in the deep.

Ambati Rayudu’s stay at the crease was a brief one and when Rahane was prised out by Steven Finn, India were in deep trouble at 136 for 5.

Stuart Binny attempted a counter-attack, but he fell to a quite brilliant catch in the slips from Ian Bell.

"

Ian bell taking a brilliant catch of Binny. 😊 #Cricket #EngvInd https://t.co/N75b4G91Oh

— Taimoor Zaman (@taimoorza) January 30, 2015"

The WACA pitch had some uneven bounce, and that was highlighted by the dismissal of India captain MS Dhoni.

The first ball of James Anderson’s eighth over leapt off a good length, the length a ball should not leap from, and it smashed Dhoni full on the helmet.

It was the sort of impact that makes batsmen thankful for the introduction of helmets, as Dhoni would have been in real trouble otherwise.

For the next few balls Dhoni was extremely wary and stayed on the back foot. That proved his undoing, as a full ball kept extremely low, too low for the length that was bowled, and he was trapped plumb lbw.

"

Not a batsman in the history of the game would've survived those 2 balls Dhoni just faced.

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) January 30, 2015"

"

LIVE 7/164 | "That's kept low and he's gone." - Hussey. Dhoni is OUT LBW. #ENGvIND #WWOS pic.twitter.com/pkFenpdxaD

— Wide World of Sports (@WWOS9) January 30, 2015"

Dhoni is a batsman who has a tremendous fighting spirit. There has not been enough of that from some India batsmen of late and Ravindra Jadeja simply gave his wicket away.

Having faced eight balls, he ran down the wicket to Stuart Broad and attempted to heave the ball over the leg side, Jadeja got himself in a hopeless position and spooned the ball up in the air to Finn.

"

Brainless cricket from Jadeja. Are England improving under Morgan (yes), or are India pretty poor currently (possibly)....

— Matt Newby (@MatthewNewby) January 30, 2015"

It was a sorry show from India’s top order, Rahane aside, and it was only some late hitting from Mohammed Shami, who clubbed 25 off 18 balls, to take India to 200.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
AM Rahane	c †Buttler b Finn	73	152	101
S Dhawan	c †Buttler b Woakes	38	85	65
V Kohli	c Root b Ali	8	26	19
SK Raina	c Woakes b Ali	1	8	5
AT Rayudu	c †Buttler b Broad	12	21	17
MS Dhoni*†	lbw b Anderson	17	38	32
STR Binny	c Bell b Finn	7	16	12
RA Jadeja	c Finn b Broad	5	18	9
AR Patel	c Bell b Finn	1	7	5
MM Sharma	not out	7	23	6
Mohammed Shami	c †Buttler b Woakes	25	18	18
Extras	(lb 2, w 4)	6
Total	(all out; 48.1 overs)	200
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
JM Anderson	9	1	24	1
CR Woakes	9.1	1	47	2
SCJ Broad	10	1	56	2
ST Finn	10	0	36	3
MM Ali	10	0	35	2

The uneven bounce that accounted for Dhoni did for England’s in-form opener Bell. The batsman went back to a Mohit Sharma delivery, but the ball kept low and he was trapped lbw.

India’s attack bowled with control and the pressure did for Moeen, who advanced down the track to Axar Patel and picked out Rayudu at long off.

Binny accounted for Joe Root and Morgan; the latter gave the pitch a look of disgust as he walked off after miscuing a drive.

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

While the pitch was to blame for Bell’s departure and arguably that of Morgan, there were no such excuses for Ravi Bopara who slapped a rank long hop to backward point.

At 66 for 5, England required calm heads and a partnership. Taylor and Buttler provided it. The required rate was manageable and after surviving a run out scare, Buttler and Taylor steadied the ship by batting with authority.

Taylor came into the match with the shadow of the soon-to-be-fit Gary Ballance looming over his shoulder, but his brilliant 82 took the game away from India and may well have cemented his place at No. 3 in the World Cup.

Taylor and Buttler both fell late on and there were a few nervy moments, but Broad and Chris Woakes edged England over the line.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
IR Bell	lbw b Sharma	10	17	13
MM Ali	c Rayudu b Patel	17	57	34
JWA Taylor	c Binny b Sharma	82	163	122
JE Root	c & b Binny	3	6	2
EJG Morgan*	c Dhawan b Binny	2	17	1
RS Bopara	c Jadeja b Binny	4	8	6
JC Buttler†	c Rayudu b Mohammed Shami	67	98	78
CR Woakes	not out	4	15	9
SCJ Broad	not out	3	7	6
Extras	(w 7, nb 2)	9
Total	(7 wickets; 46.5 overs)	201
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
STR Binny	8	0	33	3
MM Sharma	10	1	36	2
Mohammed Shami	9	0	31	1
AR Patel	10	1	39	1
RA Jadeja	9.5	0	62	0