News: Cook - Kieswetter 'brilliant'

Alastair Cook: led England to a comfortable victory

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England captain Alastair Cook praised opening partner Craig Kieswetter after England beat India by seven wickets in a rain-reduced second one-day international.

India made 187-8 in their 23 overs but Kieswetter (46) and Cook put on 67 in little more than six overs, the skipper going on to top-score with 80 not out as England won with almost an over to spare.

"It was a really good day," Cook told Sky Sports. "First of all we have to thank the groundstaff, it was an amazing effort to get it ready and it was a great game of cricket.

"It was a bit frantic (in the field) but we restricted them to a total we could get. It was a decent score but we thought it was a par score if we played well.

"Craig played brilliantly at the top of the order and left us just having to milk it to get there.

"That was the best wicket I've batted on for a long time, the bowlers said after a couple of overs that it wasn't doing anything, and it was skidding onto the bat quite nicely under the lights."

Cook also picked out Ravi Bopara for praise after he deputised for the injured Eoin Morgan and made a bright 24 from 20 balls.

"It gives Ravi a great chance," he said. "We've got a really good squad and it's up to them to try and nail down a place."

Tough day

India skipper MS Dhoni admitted: "It was a tough day, we batted well to put 180-plus on the board but the first powerplay was crucial, they got 60-odd runs and 100 from 10 overs and then they didn't need to take any risks.

"We have been able to put runs on the board in the ODI series, which is a positive for us, but a bit of improvement is needed in the bowling department.

"Everybody tries their best but almost all the bowlers went for runs."

Changes seem unlikely, though, with Dhoni admitting: "We only have specialist bowlers left, which would mean going a batter light, and that is not something we are comfortable with - we need the extra batsman because most of our batsmen play aggressive cricket.

"We try to come up with plans that may work, but not much has worked so far for us."