Bell fails to rescue England as India A dominate

England suffered a humbling start to 2013 as some below-par batting saw them slump to a 53-run defeat at the hands of India A in Delhi.

The fixture, one of two warm-ups ahead of the one-day series against India, looked a modest assignment on paper but things began to go wrong early for the tourists and never got back on track.

Captain Alastair Cook arrived suffering from a cold and withdrew from the game after plummeting temperatures and low-lying fog forced a delay to the start.

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Stand-in captain Eoin Morgan inserted the hosts, who went on to make 224-4 in a reduced 39-over innings.

What followed as England chased a revised target of 229 was not good enough, with the middle-order collapsing in quick time and only Ian Bell showing the necessary resolve as his 91 coaxed the side to 175 all out.

Even Bell, England’s best batsman on the day by a distance, was dropped twice – on 16 and 35 – meaning the scale of defeat could have been even greater.

India A had earlier batted with few problems despite the grimly cold conditions.

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Each of their top three made half-centuries, Murali Vijay top-scoring with an entertaining 76.

Jade Dernbach turned in 2-23 to emerge as the pick of the attack, while James Tredwell’s off-spin was tidy.

England’s innings was a different matter.

Kevin Pietersen, back for the first time since reversing his one-day retirement, made a lively 19, including three fours off a single Sreesanth over before miscued to mid-on.

Samit Patel was promoted to No 3 as Cook’s absence forced a reshuffle, but he made just four before Ishwar Pandey had him pinned lbw.

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That left England 42-2, which became 72-6 as the next four batsmen fell like dominoes.

Morgan (four) and Jos Buttler (six) both fell to Jalaj Saxena’s off-spin, Craig Kieswetter was undone for a duck by a fine Mohit Sharma delivery and Ashok Meneria had Chris Woakes lbw for three.

Bell, after surviving his chances, was attempting to keep his head at the other end and Tim Bresnan offered some respite with 22, including a big six.

Meneria ended his fun to make it 116-7 and James Tredwell was close behind, run out for a duck.

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Bell opened his shoulders as the end came closer, striking several clean hits and picking up a pair of sixes before he went for one shot too many and top-edged Sharma to the wicketkeeper.

He was nine short of his century but at least had the match practice his team-mates were denied.

Steven Finn was last man out as the hosts wrapped up victory, much to the delight of a small but voluble crowd.

England took the field at 9.30am (4am GMT), but managed only five overs before the umpires took the players off for bad light.

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While respite from the cold was welcome for the fielders, the subsequent loss of overs did little for England’s preparations.

More than an hour was lost and when play resumed Abhinav Mukund and Vijay were on top.

Bresnan suffered most initially, his first three overs costing 20.

Vijay then went after Chris Woakes in the 17th, chipping him for three over the top and then striking a clean six down the ground.

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Both batsman passed 50 looking relatively untroubled, with 106 on the board at the end of the 20th over.

Tredwell eventually struck for England with the score at 118, Mukund stumped for 57. Vijay carried on the fight, lifting Tredwell for a straight six and a reverse-swept four.

He was gone for 76, Patel rocking back his leg stump with a quicker delivery, but Meneria picked up the baton with successive maximums off the England all-rounder. Dernbach dismissed Meneria and Jalaj, just reward for some disciplined bowling, though Kedar Jadhav managed 52 not out as he shepherded the total along to a winning position.

“Obviously it is disappointing today but we can learn from these mistakes,” said Bell.

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“We were desperate to win today and it wasn’t to be, but hopefully we can go forward now.

“We have the talent and the quality to win the first ODI and that’s what we’ll be focusing on,” he said. “Hopefully we can put in a good performance in the next warm-up game (against a Delhi XI on Tuesday).

“I’ve enjoyed opening, 100 per cent, it’s gone really well in the last three series,” said Bell.

On opening the innings, Bell added: “We’ve got plenty of options but it’s something I’ve really enjoyed and something hopefully I do consistently now.

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“It’s nice to be at the top of the order and get some time in the middle.”

Pietersen’s innings, his first one-day knock for England since last February, burst into life with three fours in an over off the lively Sreesanth but ended too soon after an ugly mis-cue to mid-on.

“Kev played really well actually,” added Bell. “It’s a shame he got out but I guess at the top of the order, with the fielding restrictions you have to take the odd risk.

“But he was going really nicely and it was a shame to lose him,” he added.

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England will take a day off training today, potentially keen to avoid the unexpected chill that has descended.

They face a Delhi XI in their second practice fixture tomorrow before flying to Rajkot for the first ODI on Friday.

Hussey calls time on his career with victory over Sri Lanka

Michael Hussey admitted he was looking forward to taking it easy after bringing the curtain down on his seven-year Test career as Australia whitewashed Sri Lanka with victory in the final Test in Sydney.

Hussey was at the non-striker’s end as as Mitchell Johnson scored the winning runs as Australia took the Test by five wickets to win the series 3-0.

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Set 141 to win Australia struggled but at least that meant Hussey could bow out with one final innings as he hit 27 not out.

Hussey said: “I’m more than happy to be out there when the winning run was hit.

“I just wanted the job done really. The most important thing was making sure we won the Test match.”

Hussey revealed he would not miss the stress of playing Test cricket and also the sick feeling he experienced every time he walked out to bat.

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“I’m a bit relieved it’s all over now. There’s the stress, the pressure, I can relax away from all that now,” he said.

“I don’t have that sick feeling in my stomach before every game or before I bat.”

Hussey also said there would be lots of things he would miss about not playing for his country.

“I’m sure there’s aspects that I’m definitely going to miss as well.

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“Being out there when the winning runs are hit in a Test match, helping Australia win a series. Or being with the boys in the dressing room after a game, singing the team song. But all good things have to come to an end at some stage.”

Hussey praised the SCG crowd for their support in his final Test.

“What a place to finish, the SCG. It’s probably in my top three favourite grounds in the whole world.

“The crowd support, and support in general, has been a bit overwhelming really. I’ve been a little bit embarrassed by it to be honest.”

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Sri Lanka had been bowled out for 278 in the morning, Dinesh Chandimal stretching his side’s meagre lead to 140 with an impressive unbeaten 62.

But, led by Rangana Herath (3-46), the tourists bowled well enough to make life uncomfortable for Australia and give Hussey the chance for one last slice of glory. Australia scored 141-5, but Hussey allowed Mitchell Johnson to hit the winning run, much to the crowd’s disappointment.

Pakistan collapsed from 144-6 to 157 all out as India snatched victory in the final one-day international to avoid a series sweep against their rivals.

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