Ian Bell's unbeaten 113 helped England to a seven-wicket win over India in their fifth and final ODI played at Dharamshala.
India paid the price for some poor shot selection by their top order batsmen as England rode on Ian Bell's unbeaten century to salvage some pride by winning the fifth and final one-dayer by seven wickets and reduce the margin of defeat to 3-2 on Sunday.
The visitors first dismissed the hosts for a modest 226 and then relied on Bell's third ODI ton -- 113 not out -- to overhaul the target with 16 balls to spare at the picturesque HPCA stadium which hosted its first international match.
The Indians, who had already clinched the series in Mohali by taking an unassailable 3-1 lead, were done in by some poor shots by their top order batsmen and could never really recover from the early jolts despite Suresh Raina's brilliant effort of 83 under pressure.
The Indians slumped to a precarious 79 for five as Gautam Gambhir (24), Rohit Sharma (4), Virat Kohli (0), Yuvraj Singh (0) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (15) perished in quick succession with some of them playing atrocious shots.
Suresh Raina, who has been in sparkling form this series, was the only silver-lining on an otherwise lacklustre day for the hosts.
The Indian batsmen were in trouble from the outset, playing one too many expansive shots. The hosts had lost half of the side by the 22nd over with the score on 79.
Bell played the anchor role, taking his team past the finishing line with help from Joe Root (31) and Eoin Morgan (40 not out).
Alastair Cook won the toss and put India in to bat in cold morning conditions.
Tim Bresnan (4/45) got the ball to swing and bounce asking many tough questions of the Indian batsman. But the find of the tournament for the English has been off-spinner James Tredwell (2/25).
Having already lost the series, the visitors secured the consolation win when they chased down India's score of 226 all out without much difficulty and with 16 balls to spare.
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