Captain Alastair Cook proud as England finish series with victory

Ian Bell’s unbeaten century formed the backbone of England’s innings as they chased down a target of 227 with room to spare.

It was a positive end to a series they had already lost and Cook was delighted with his players’ response in Dharamsala.

“It was a good win,” he said.

“It was important to win the toss, but the way our bowlers put the ball in the right areas and then Ian Bell’s contribution — we took our chances.

“We can take lots of positives out of today. The ball was doing stuff throughout the whole day.”

He added: “I knew if we held our nerve chasing 220 then we’d get there.

“It’s always disappointing to lose the series. But to win two games here in these conditions, we can be quite proud of that.”

Bell was named man of the match for his performance with the bat, but the opener was quick to praise the bowlers for restricting India to a modest total.

“For me, the longer I stayed out there the easier it got,” he said.

“But all credit to the bowlers. Chasing 220 was a nice target to go at.”

Despite celebrating a 3-2 series win, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was disappointed with his side’s batting today.

“It was a tight series overall but we should have won this game,” he said.