Wicket ‘cluster’ cost us match admits Cook

ENGLAND captain Alastair Cook admitted his side were “blown away” by India.

“We were in with a shout at 120-odd for nought and just got blown away at the end. It was very disappointing,” said Cook. “We know you can lose wickets in clusters and we seem to have lost 10 there in a cluster.

“We set up the game beautifully to go on and win that but credit to the way they bowled and we played a couple of poor shots. It was a bit of a disappointing end and a bit of a common theme.”

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 75 not out with some vital late hitting to boost his side’s total and was not dismissed throughout the series. Cook added: “Credit to MS, at the end he hits it very well, he’s a very hard person to bowl at and he single-handedly got them up to 270, which was probably gettable the way we started. But when you lose 10 for 50 you’re not going to win anything.

“Only four of us have played one-day series out here and it’s great for the youngsters to get the experience. It will show where they need to improve and we all need to improve as a side.”

Dhoni added: “It was a very ugly looking wicket and one ball can swing or keep low. It was very difficult to score on so we were fortunate to score 270. 240 or 245 was in our mind and then wait for the wicket to spin.

“I love to stay to the end and I’ve been supported by the other batsmen.”