Dhoni leads India to emphatic 126 run win

Hyderabad: A young India finally broke their prolonged losing streak as they trounced England by 127 runs in a lop-sided first cricket one-dayer here Friday.

India rode on Dhoni`s blistering 87-run knock and Suresh Raina`s 55-ball 61 to post a mammoth 330 for seven and then skittled out the visitors for only 174 runs in 36.1 overs Rajiv Gandhi International stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. This was India`s first victory after a losing streak of 10 international matches that includes five ODIs (last two ODIs in West Indies), four Tests and one T20 international.

The wicket got slower with passage of time and India`s newest spin-twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tightened the noose on England batsmen sharing six wickets between them. The margin of victory should come as whiff of fresh air for Dhoni and Co who would now certainly feel upbeat with four ODIs remaining.

Craig Kieswetter (7) was the first to depart when he nicked at an away going delivery from Praveen Kumar. Kevin Pietersen (19) hit three boundaries but Ashwin`s direct throw from mid-on found him short of his crease. Skipper Alastair Cook (60) joined hands with Jonathan Trott (26) and added 71 runs for the third wicket. They didn`t score at a very brisk pace but kept decent run-rate going for their team.

It was slow left-arm spin of Jadeja that started the slide. The Saurashtra all-rounder dismissed Cook and Trott within a space of nine runs to effect a middle-order collapse. While Cook was holed out in the deep mid-wicket trying to give Jadeja the charge, Trott played an uncharacteristic slog sweep, obly to be clean bowled.