ALASTAIR Cook knows England must find an answer to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s power hitting after the India captain inspired his side to a series-levelling win in the second one-day international at Kochi.
England’s second-innings collapse, which saw them lose nine wickets for 100 runs on their way to a poor 158 all out, may catch the eye but it was Dhoni who changed the tenor of the match.
England had been on top for 40 overs in the field when Dhoni set about a now familiar late-order surge.
He accelerated in seemingly unstoppable fashion on his way to 72 in 66 balls, with Ravindra Jadeja (61no) following suit, as the sixth-wicket pair put on 96 in just 60 deliveries.
The pair shared four sixes and 15 fours, with 68 runs coming in the last five overs.
That took India to 285 for six, a score well beyond what they had anticipated, and sowed the seeds of England’s 127-run defeat.
Dhoni had threatened to play a similar knock in the first ODI before being dismissed for 32 and Cook acknowledges he is the key wicket.
“Clearly it’s very tough when you’ve got people like Dhoni in at the end. He’s probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions,” said Cook.
“I think they got probably 30 or 40 too many towards the end, 108 off the last 10 overs, so that hurts.
“(Bowling to Dhoni) is very hard and you get exposed if you don’t quite get your skills right.
“He does it time and time again. He’s incredibly hard to bowl at and it’s very very hard to stop him on these flat wickets.
“Hopefully one day we can produce a bit of magic to get him out, which puts them under pressure.
“He’s obviously a key player for them and he’s delivering at the moment.”
Dhoni settled into an effective groove in the closing stages, sending the seam trio of Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach and Chris Woakes to all parts.
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