Bowling Card 3RD ODI England vs India

• Extras (b 0, lb 3, w 9, nb 5) 17
• Total Score: 240/10 (48.4 Over)

  RR:4.93

• Fall of Wickets:

  1-79 (Ian Bell, 14.3 Over) 2-102 (Kevin Pietersen, 19.1 Over) 3-106 (Paul Collingwood, 21.2 Over) 4-133 (Ravi Bopara, 28.5 Over) 5-167 (Andrew Flintoff, 36.2 Over) 6-203 (Owais Shah, 43.4 Over) 7-231 (Samit Patel, 46.4 Over) 8-231 (Matt Prior, 46.5 Over) 9-235 (Stuart Broad, 47.5 Over) 10-240 (James Anderson, 48.4 Over)

  Bowling	O	M	R	W	NB	WD	Eco
  Zaheer Khan	10	0	45	1	0	1	4.5
  Munaf Patel	6.4	0	36	2	0	0	5.4
  Ishant Sharma	9	0	60	2	5	2	6.66
  Yuvraj Singh	10	0	54	1	0	1	5.4
  Harbhajan Singh	10	2	31	3	0	1	3.1
  Yusuf Pathan	2	0	7	1	0	0	3.5
  Virender Sehwag	1	0	4	0	0	0	4

England all out for 240 in 3rd ODI

Harbhajan Singh's spell of 3/31 spelled doom for the English XI as the visitors were all out for a mere 240 runs.

Ravi Bopara top scored for the hosts with a neat knock of 60. Earlier, England made a solid start in the Kanpur ODI but India has struck crucial blows to bring England to 102/2 in 19 overs.

Ian Bell fell to a Munaf Patel delivery that jagged away while Harbhajan Singh got the all important wicket of skipper Kevin Pietersen.

Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara forged 79 run partnership for the opening wicket to give England its best start for the series. After Bell's fall Bopara (41 batting) soldiered on and now he is joined by Paul Collingwood in the middle.

England skipper Kevin Pietersen won the toss and chose to bat first against India in the third one-day international on Thursday.

The start was delayed by 45 minutes due to hazy conditions, reducing play to 49-overs per side. The forecast is for showers during the day.

England dropped pace spearhead Steve Harmison and picked off spinner Graeme Swann as the second spinner, for his first game of the series in the only change from the previous game.

Harmison took just three wickets at over 41 runs apiece in the first two games, the hosts having won both easily to lead the seven-match series.

India recalled fast bowler Ishant Sharma after his recovery from an ankle injury, replacing left-arm R.P. Singh in the only change from the previous game.

Teams: England:Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen (captain), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

India:Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma.

England could not make the most of their best start of the series so far as India's phalanx of disciplined bowlers shot them out for 240 in 48.4 overs in the third cricket ODI here today.

Dhoni hopes Yuvraj gets a hat-trick of centuries

Kanpur, Nov 19 (IANS) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes in-form Yuvraj Singh gets a third consecutive century in the third One-Day International against England here Thursday.

'I hope he (Yuvraj) scores his third consecutive century here and that would suit the team as well,' Dhoni told reporters after a practice session at the Green Park Stadium here Wednesday.

Yuvraj has been in rampaging form with an unbeaten 138 in Rajkot and 118 in Indore, where he also picked up four wickets.

'Yuvraj, when on song, is simply one of the best, even the top bowlers struggle against him. As a captain, I have noticed that all big players who slog down the order are left-handers, probably because the bowlers have sorted out the right-handers. They can bowl yorker or low fulltoss to a right-hander, but struggle to find the right line for the left-handers,' Dhoni said.

The India captain also said that as Yuvraj was making a come-back he motivated the left-handed batsman to play his natural game.

'I told him see the ball and hit it. At times when a player goes through a bad patch, you have to keep him motivated. But all the players in the team are very talented and you cannot really change their basics. All you can do is to motivate them,' he said.

Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag skipped the practice session and Dhoni said that since it was an optional session the players decided to take some rest. But Ishant Sharma, who was rested for the first two matches, has been declared fit and is expected to play.

'In the Test series against Australia, he (Ishant) bowled long spells and was tired. But even then, bowling his third spell of the day, he gave it his best and bowled his heart out, putting in the same amount of effort. You have to take care of kids like him,' Dhoni said.

'He is just 19 or 20, you have to make sure that he does not sustain injuries and remains in the right frame of mind.'

Rudra Pratap Singh, who has been unimpressive so far, is expected to make way for Ishant.

'Look, he (Rudra Pratap) has not played for a while and its always difficult to make a comeback. It is at times like this that you need to completely back him. He has been one of the best bowlers against England and even though he is looking bit rusty, the team will back him and we hope he comes back strong,' Dhoni said.

Sourav Ganguly watches Ranji Trophy match

Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly watches Ranji Trophy match at Eden Garden in Kolkata.

India vs England : Munaf Patel celebrates 1st wicket of England

India's cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (L) and other teammates watch a replay as they huddle to congratulate Munaf Patel (3rd R) for the wicket of England cricketer Ian Bell during the third One Day International (ODI) match between India and England at Green park stadium in Kanpur on November 20, 2008. England won the toss and elected to bat first. India leads 2-0 in the seven ODI match series.

Third ODI : Munaf Patel celebrates 1st wicket of England

Indian cricketers Yuvraj singh (L) and Suresh Raina (R) congratulate Munaf Patel (C) for the wicket of England cricketer Ian Bell during the third One Day International (ODI) match between India and England at Green park stadium in Kanpur on November 20, 2008. England won the toss and elected to bat first. India leads 2-0 in the seven ODI match series.

Third ODI Kanpur: India vs England - Munaf Patel celebrates 1st wicket of England

Indian cricketer Munaf Patel celebrates the wicket of England cricketer Ian Bell during the third One Day International (ODI) match between India and England at Green park stadium in Kanpur on November 20, 2008. England won the toss and elected to bat first. India leads 2-0 in the seven ODI match series.

Second Indore ODI: India vs England - MS Dhoni

Earlier, Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat and retained the XI that thrashed the tourists by 158 runs at Rajkot on Friday. England too reposed faith in their losing XI despite Ryan Sidebottom, who missed the opener due to a heel injury, fit to play and available.

Players Should Be given Rest - Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has warned that players will increasingly be forced to skip matches because of burnout caused by an overloaded cricket calendar.

Dhoni, who sat out India's three-test series in Sri Lanka in July and August, said Wednesday that excessive cricket both international and provincial was exhausting the players.

"It's getting increasingly tough. It's important for a player to decide when he cannot take it anymore," Dhoni said ahead of Thursday's one-day international between India and England here.

"I opted out of the test series in Sri Lanka because I needed a break," Dhoni said.

"Players know their body best and in future more and more players will come out and say that they are going to skip events," he said.

The one-day series against England will be followed by two tests. The one-week gap between the one-dayers and the tests will be used to stage the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League.

Dhoni is captain of Chennai Super Kings, one of two Indian teams in the Champions League which also features provincial teams from Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan.

If the Super Kings reach the final, on Dec. 10 in the southern city of Chennai, Dhoni may miss the match because the first test against England begins the following morning in the western city of Ahmadabad.

The Indian board asked England if the first test could start a day later, but the itinerary was not changed because that would leave just two days' gap between the tests.

"For me, the country comes first," Dhoni said. "I'd like to play the test match if I have to make a choice."

Indian Captain Dhoni praises Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh's consecutive one-day centuries against England, after having been dropped from the Test squad, have won him rich praise from India's captain and selectors ahead of the third match of the series Thursday.

Yuvraj hit a dominant 138 from just 78 balls in the series opener in Rajkot and followed it with a composed 118 in the second one-dayer at Indore - where he also snared four wickets - to take man-of-the-match honours in successive matches.

Riding on Yuvraj's dominant knocks, India has surged to a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.

"I hope he scores his third consecutive century here," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said at training Wednesday at Green Park Stadium.

"On song, Yuvraj is simply one of the best, even the top bowlers struggle against him," said Dhoni. "Yuvraj is a strong-hitter and hits along the ground."

Yuvraj ignored back pain to make himself available for the England series, as he was eager to keep himself on the selection radar after being dropped from the Test squad following poor form on the recent tour to Sri Lanka.

India's chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth said Yuvraj's form had pushed his claim to fill the Test squad's middle-order slot vacated by retirement of former skipper Sourav Ganguly.

"Yuvraj is definitely a front-runner" for Test selection, Srikkanth was quoted as saying Tuesday in The Telegraph in Calcutta.

"Over the years, he has already shown he's a match-winner in one-day internationals. I see Yuvraj as a potential match-winner in Tests too."

India's pace attack for the third one-day match will be strengthened by the return of Ishant Sharma, who was declared fit Wednesday after missing the opening two matches with an ankle sprain.

"In the Test series against Australia, Ishant bowled long spells and was tired," Dhoni said. "But even then, he gave it his best and bowled his heart out."

'Country comes first' - Dhoni

MS Dhoni said he would opt for the Test match if it comes to a choice between the Champions League final or the first Test against England. Although on expected lines, the statement nonetheless is significant, considering the amount of talk going around on the primacy of Test cricket.

"I am not aware about what exactly is happening, but of course the country comes first. This is for the BCCI to decide and I will go by whatever it decides, but if it comes down to a choice between the two, I will obviously play the Test," said Dhoni, on being asked about the BCCI's request to the ECB to delay the Test series by a day.

Dhoni also brushed aside the suggestion that the Champions League and the talk around it might prove a distraction for the team. "All we are concerned about right now is the upcoming match. We aren't thinking about anything else, not even the ODIs after Kanpur or the Test series. So, I don't think the upcoming league could distract us," he declared.

The skipper also didn't take kindly to the suggestion that it was primarily the big money on offer that that was pushing players into non-stop cricket. "I don't think money is always an issue. We (the Indian players) make enough money to take care of ourselves just after playing two -three years of international cricket. It's more the love of the game and the passion to represent the country that keeps the player going," explained Dhoni.

Besides, said the Indian skipper, the players could opt for rest whenever they feel the need to do so. "I opted out of the Sri Lanka series for I felt I might have got injured if I had continued playing then. I think we will see many more players coming up and asking for rest whenever they want to, for the Board too is very keen on it," said Dhoni.

That board too is thinking favourably about rotating player and that should come as a relief to the players who are slogging continuously in this non-stop cricket calendar of the present times. All they would need to summon is some self belief and sense of security to avail the much-needed allowance.

Second Indore ODI: India vs England - Yusuf Pathan

Towards the end Yusuf Pathan, who failed at Rajkot, hammered an unbeaten 50 in only 29 balls by clobbering four sixes, including two in the last over bowled by Steve Harmison, and two fours to finish the innings on a high note.