Kolkata, October 25: It’s been a series of highlights for India. With five consecutive wins against the touring England, India can rightfully be proud of an all-round performance worthy of world champs. Take a look at the key moments from the 5-0 series sweep.
-
In the first ODI (at Hyderabad), Suresh Raina completed 3,000 runs in ODIs. He became the 16th Indian to accomplish this feat. He also became only the fourth Indian left-hander after Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir to reach this landmark.
-
MS Dhoni - scoring an unbeaten 87 in the first ODI – became only the third Indian captain to score four consecutive fifties after Mohammad Azharuddin (twice) and Sourav Ganguly. He had scored 69 at The Oval on September 9, 78* at Lord’s on 11 September and 50* at Cardiff on September 16. More importantly, Dhoni became the first keeper-captain in ODI history to score four consecutive fifties.
-
In the first ODI, India scored 59 for one in their batting Powerplay – their best performance against England and fifth best in all ODIs.
-
The victory margin of 126 runs in the first ODI was India’s second best against England. They had beaten England by 158 runs at Rajkot in 2008.
-
In the second ODI (at Delhi), both England openers, Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter, failed to open their account. This was the sixth instance where both openers failed to open their account in an ODI against India. For England, Matt Prior and Luke Wright had also failed to open their account against India at Lord’s in 2007.
-
In the second ODI, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli added 209 runs for the third-wicket without being separated to put on India’s best partnership for any wicket against England. The pair obliterated the 192-run partnership between Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly for the first wicket at Colombo RPS in 2002.
-
In the second ODI, Virat Kohli (112*) scored his seventh ODI hundred in his 66th ODI – his second ton in his eighth ODI vs England and his fourth in his 25th ODI at home.
-
Kohli also completed 1,000 runs in ODIs in the year (2011) in the second ODI, becoming the third batsman to accomplish this feat this year after Jonathan Trott and Shane Watson.
-
India won the Delhi match with 80 balls remaining – their second biggest against England in terms of balls remaining. They had beaten England with 123 balls remaining at Jaipur in the 2006 Champions Trophy.
-
The third match (at Mohali) was the 17th day-night ODI at PCA Stadium, Mohali – the most ODIs played at any Indian ground along with Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
-
India conceded only three extras in England’s total of 298 at Mohali. This is the least extras conceded by a side in a total of 298 or more in ODIs. Canada had conceded four extras in a World Cup 2011 game in Zimbabwe’s total of 298 for nine.
-
In the third ODI, Virat Kohli completed 1,000 runs in ODI matches in India. He became the quickest Indian (along with Navjot Sidhu) to accomplish this feat taking 24 innings to do so.
-
India’s 300 for five was the second highest successful chase in 20 matches at Mohali’s PCA Stadium. Pakistan had beaten India in 2007 by four wickets after chasing down 322.
-
At Mohali, India achieved a total of 300 or more for the 65th time in ODIs – more than any other country in ODIs. They went ahead of Australia’s tally of 64 such totals.
-
The win at Mohali also gave India a series win. England have now not beaten India in a bilateral ODI series since 1984-85.
-
In the fourth ODI (at Mumbai), Varun Aaron, making his ODI debut, captured three for 24 – the best figures by an Indian pacer on ODI debut. Subroto Banerjee had taken three for 30 against West Indies at Perth in 1991.
-
The Kohli-Raina partnership of 131 runs at Mumbai was India’s best for any wicket at Mumbai Wankhede. Mohammad Azharuddin and Dilip Vengsarkar had added 117 runs for the third wicket against Sri Lanka in 1987.
-
The win at Mumbai was India’s eighth in consecutive matches at home – their best winning sequence at home. India had won seven consecutive games at home between December 1981 and October 1983.
-
In the fifth ODI at Kolkata, MS Dhoni completed 4,000 runs in ODIs as captain. He became the third Indian after Mohammad Azharuddin (5239) and Sourav Ganguly (5104) and the tenth captain in ODIs to do so.
-
MS Dhoni – with four sixes at Kolkata – became the leading six-hitter in ODIs on Indian soil, moving ahead of Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 71 sixes.
-
India blanked England 5-0 in the series; this is the second time that they have achieved this feat against England. They had also beaten England 5-0 in 2008-09. Incidentally, this was the third occasion where India won a bilateral series 5-0. Apart from two such series wins against England, India had also beaten New Zealand 5-0 at home in 2010-11.
