Dharamsala: Ian Bell’s superb unbeaten ton and some fantastic bowling by the England bowlers earlier in the match saw the visitors beat India by seven wickets in the fifth and final ODI at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala on Sunday. Happy with the win England skipper Alastair Cook was in all praise for Bell and his bowlers.

Alastair Cook also said that it was a good toss to win. "It was good win. It was a good toss to win and our bowlers bowled really well. (Tim) Bresnan and (Steven) Finn got early breakthroughs for us. Our top four got runs and Ian Bell played a fantastic knock. The pitch was doing something all the day and so it was important to stick around with wickets in hands. It is important with the new regulations. We have good positives to take from this series. It has been a fantastic three months in India," said the skipper.

Meanwhile, though happy with the series win, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that had the Indians batted sensibly, they could have won this match as well.

"The ODI series was as tight as the Test series. We should have won this game. Maybe we should have batted more sensibly. But it is a young side and it will learn with time. Thankfully, in three games, we didn't have to bowl those death overs and that remains an area of concern,” said Dhoni, adding that the bowlers as a whole did well in this series.

“Today bowlers got some help but maybe there were a little short today. The bowlers did well this series and the conditions really helped them as well. Ishant was a big positive. He bowled really well throughout the series. Fielding is a big positive. Jadeja's form solves the all-rounder problem to an extent too," added the Indian skipper.

Ian Bell, who got the man-of-the-match for his superb century, said, "Our bowlers set up the win, but 220 odd was a good target to chase. I really love opening the batting and hopefully I can continue do this in future."

Meanwhile, Suresh Raina got the Man-of-the-Series award for his consistent performance in the series. "When we came to this series, we had lost to Pakistan and England in Tests. So this win has been good. Today we were probably 20-30 runs short, but still we batted well in this series. When you bat at 6, 7 you don't get many opportunities, but in this series, our top order didn't get runs, so I got time in the middle,” said Raina.

By Indian Sports News Network