Kolkata: England thrashed India by seven wickets to win the third Test of the four match Test series being played at the Eden Gardens  here today. England have now taken a 2-1 lead in the series with one match remaining and can’t lose the series now.

England needed 41 runs to win the match and they completed the formality but not without an initial stutter which saw them lose three wicket for only eight runs.

After the embarrassing loss, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said, “We needed to score big runs in the first innings to give bowlers a chance. We should have scored around 450 runs. The problem was that batsmen who got the starts did not carry on to get a big one. In the second innings it was a land-slide after lunch where we lost six wickets, we lost the match there.”

On the last Test in Nagpur, Dhoni said, “We have everything to play for in Nagpur. Everybody needs to pull up their socks.” Dhoni also said that England were the better team as they bowled in right areas and deserved to win the match.

England captain Alastair Cook was delighted with the result, he said, “It was a great performance over the four and a half days of play.To keep India to 300 on that wicket was a great effort. Credit to all the hard work we have out in.  It was a tough morning session yesterday. Credit goes to the way Sehwag and Gambhir played. We knew we needed to strike early, that's what Graeme Swann did.”

Cook who was adjudged man-of-the-match for his brilliant 190 in the first innings said, “I have been hitting the ball well, it is always nice to contribute to team’s win. I was lucky in this innings and it paid-off in the end.”

On the last Test of the series, Cook said, “We have to enjoy now as it is important to treasure the wins, we will get some rest and will prepare for the next Test. We will never be complacent and will go there to win the Test and the series.”

By Indian Sports News Network