Mohali: Rohit Sharma grabbed the opportunity with both hands and came out with a winning knock in India’s five-wicket win over England at PCA Stadium in Mohali that gave the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match ODI series.

Chasing a target of 258, the hosts rode on the batting heroics of Rohit Sharma (83) and Suresh Raina (89 not out) to win comfortable in the penultimate game. Earlier, India restricted England to 257 for seven and chased the target with 15 balls to spare.

Putting England to bat after winning the toss, India started off on a good note as it restricted the England batsmen from scoring runs but later Kevin Peitersen (76) and Joe Root (57 not out off 45 balls) accelerated the England innings as the visitors managed to score as many as 100 runs in the last ten overs. Captain Alastair Cook too came up with a good performance top the order with a knock of 76.

However, India held their nerve during the run chase and after Rohit Sharma proved his class with some delightful shots to lay the foundation for the chase, and it was ultimately Raina who guided the team home.  Ravindra Jadeja hit the winning runs by taking three off Jade Dernbach to trigger off scenes of wild celebrations in the galleries and the Indian dressing room where the players hugged each other.

It was a creditable series victory for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men who had come under fire for indifferent performances in recent times, which saw the team lose a Test series to England and an ODI series defeat against arch rivals Pakistan at home.