Ranchi Set to Debut International Cricket

Ranchi: Propped up by the massive series-levelling win in the second ODI, India will look to keep the momentum going when they go into the third one-dayer against England at JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi on Saturday, hoping that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's first match in his hometown will prove lucky.

After they fell short by mere nine runs in a high-scoring 326-run chase in Rajkot, India came back strongly in Kochi to level the series 1-1 with a 127-run win, their second highest margin of victory against England.

Another fine innings by Dhoni (72 from 66 balls) coupled with Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten 61 from 37 balls set the momentum after yet another top-order failure in Kochi as England choked in the 286-run chase.

In the Kochi triumph, India finally seemed to have got the allrounder solution in Jadeja who came of age, brilliantly chipping in with 2/12 from his seven overs of left-arm spin.

Another positive was the failing middle-order batsmen's return to form with the Suresh Raina, Dhoni and Jadeja notching half-centuries.

Since the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni has averaged 83.28 at a strike rate of 92.39, with 11 fifty-plus scores in 27 innings.

Having thrashed more or less the same side 5-0 twice (when they toured last in 2008-09 and 2011-12), a lot would be at stake for Dhoni's men, under heavy criticism after suffering back-to-back series defeats to England (Tests) and Pakistan (ODIs).

On the bowling front, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took down the English top-order early on in Kochi when he removed Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan in the space of three balls in an outstanding new-ball spell.

Ishant has been a shadow of the magical spells he produced in Australia, as he has been bowling too short or wayward, leaking runs at more than eight an over.

England's hope for a double, and a repeat of the 1984-85 series, where they won both the Tests and ODIs, would largely depend on how Kevin Pietersen performs in the next three ODIs.

The middle-order batsman is yet to convert his starts (44 in Rajkot and 42 in Kochi) in the series.

In absence of Stuart Broad (heel injury), England are touring with an inexperienced attack. Their speed options are Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach, Chris Woakes and Tim Bresnan.

In the spin department, off-break bowler James Tredwell, after an encouraging 4/44 in Rajkot, will look to relish the Indian conditions, while Samit Patel would be useful with his left-arm orthodox.

Teams from:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Shami Ahmed, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara Amit Mishra and Ashok Dinda.

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Samit Patel, Chris Woakes, James Tredwell, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Stuart Meaker

Stats & trivia

• England have won last ODI series in 1984-85
• England have not won an ODI series since then, as their last best performance on the Indian soil was the 3-3 result in 2001-02.
• Dhoni has aggregated 307 runs in his last five matches at a handsome average of 102.33.
• Virat Kohli is 49 short of 4000 ODI runs.

Match facts
Saturday January 19, 2013 (day/night)
Start time 12 noon (06:30 GMT, 07:30 EST)