42nd over: India 217-4 (Rayudu 60, Jadeja 5) (target 228)

A crashing four each from Rayudu, square on the off and Jadeja, rather straighter, helps hasten the end of this match. Eleven needed.

On the Twitters, a withering verdict (is there any other type of verdict on Twitter)

41st over: India 207-4 (Rayudu 55, Jadeja 0) (target 228)

Raina is dismissed, off the first ball of the over, well caught at deep mid-on, which brings Jadeja to the crease, and he plays out the over without scoring. A wicket maiden no less from Tredwell. But all too late.

40th over: India 207-3 (Rayudu 55, Raina 42) (target 228)

Woakes takes over at the Pavilion End. Raina turns him round the corner for one, Rayudu flicks him square for one, Raina nudges him square on the offside for one. It’s all very routine in what would in other circumstancs be a decent over.

39th over: India 204-3 (Rayudu 54, Raina 40) (target 228)

Home fans are starting to drift away now – to think they put Notts County’s match back 24 hours for this – as Tredwell rejoins the attack. He actually produces a beautiful delivery that turns in sharply and bambozles and beats Rayudu – unfortunately it beats Buttler too and runs accrue. Four from the over in total - 24 needed from 11.

38th over: India 200-3 (Rayudu 51, Raina 39) (target 228)

Belief is beginning to drain from England’s performance now, as Finn goes for 12 in this over, starting it with a leg-side wide. By contast, Rayudu’s belief is growing, and he belts one over the bowler’s head for four and then brings his 50 up with a well guided lofted steer down to the third man boundary ropes. My 228-4 off 41.3 prediction still looks on, though only if England somehow conjure a wicket.

37th over: India 188-3 (Rayudu 40, Raina 39) (target 228)

Woakes is back in the attack for the first time since the 10th over, and Raina welcomes him back with a lofted cover drive for four over a vacant field as we enter the batting powerplay. He’s looking impressive once again, as he demonstrates off the last ball of the over with a controlled legside pull to the boundary. Two more singles in between complete the over, an expensive one.

36th over: India 178-3 (Rayudu 39, Raina 30) (target 228)

Raina steers Finn down to third man for one, but the Middlesex quick is still trying out new ideas, adjusting his fields and changing his lines of attack. However, Rayudu can find the gaps and does with a thump through extra-cover for four. Drinks will now be taken, with surely not much longer to go anyway afterwards. Fifty are needed off 14 overs.

“I can’t think that it’s a coincidence,” writes Ruth Fordham, “that England, in the end, dominated the test series in front of 95% home support and in the one dayers India are winning by a mile with most of the crowd behind them. Nothing to do with atmosphere more that it shows what really matters more culturally in each country.”

35th over: India 173-3 (Rayudu 35, Raina 29) (target 228)

Raina and Rayudu milk singles off Anderson, before Raina expertly bottom-hands a lofted clip over mid-on for three. You just don’t see English players producing those sorts of clever improvised shots very often. Five from the over.

34th over: India 168-3 (Rayudu 34, Raina 24) (target 228)

We finally do have pace at both ends, as Finn returns. Cook tries to funk up his field a little by bringing a few more up on the one but in funk terms he’s no George Clinton. Finn’s finding a reasonable, challenging line here against the right-hander, but all it takes is one looser ball for India to keep up with the rate, and that one is duly flicked over the non-existent slip cordon for four by Rayudu. A useful knock from him, this.

33rd over: India 163-3 (Rayudu 30, Raina 24) (target 228)

Anderson is back, which at least stirs the India fans into same pantomime booing. Rayudu flicks a single off the first ball, but Anderson causes a modicum - admittedly only a modicum - of discomfort in Raina with a ball more sharply arrowed into him. He concedes a wide but it’s a more purposeful over, though one fears Anderson’s come in too late here, and an angry Timothy Reston agrees. “Why Root?” he harrumphs. “When defending a small total, the trick surely is to take wickets. So why bring on Root rather than a strike bowler? Does Cook really think he can defend the total without bowling India out?”

32nd over: India 160-3 (Rayudu 29, Raina 23) (target 228)

Raina loves that cut shot, and takes Stokes for two more with the first ball of the over, and four with the last one of it. A grubby, twice-bouncing ball is fumbled by Buttler and supplies two byes before Raina adds one more, while Rayudu is happy to take guided singles down to third man. There is, again, a total lack of competitive tension out there.

On the subject of Trent Bridge’s unique capacity to provoke transgressions in England v India contests, here’s John Starbuck with a theory of sorts:

It may be something to do with the local atmosphere. As a proud Dottygubber I can inform you that one thing the locals are is bloody-minded, we don’t like anyone telling us what to do. This goes back to at least the so-called English Civil War, started by Charles I raising his recruiting flag on what is now known as Standard Hill. After he’d pushed off the city went Parliamentarian. After the Restoration plenty of the people became Mayflower voyagers (loads of Americans roam the streets in summer searching for ancestor evidence) because of religious differences. We also had plenty of disturbance - the cheese riots, the machine-breaking (supported by local noble Byron) and so on; even in later times the local voting usually switched regularly between Tory and Labour, with the county and city going vice-versa in opposition. Of course, you’ll get this in a lot of places, but in Nottingham we make a point of it. I was once told by a visitor that she’d never come across so many people wandering about talking to themselves: it’s because they like to argue even with no-one else about.With all that chippiness in the air it’s no surprise that England-India players have imbibed some of it.

You talk about wandering around talking to yourself as if it’s a bad thing.

31st over: India 149-3 (Rayudu 26, Raina 17) (target 228)

Just as I lament the proliferation of boring singles (don’t insert Guardian Soulmates gag here), we have a four – two of them in a row, no less - as Raina cuts loose against Root with a couple of choice square cuts. He almost gets another with the same shot but Finn cuts it off and restricts them to three. A productive over for India, and you sense that if there’s no wicket in the next three or four overs, it’s all over.

30th over: India 138-3 (Rayudu 26, Raina 6) (target 228)

Singles, singles, singles. It’s like Guardian Soulmates out there at the moment. Stokes is trying manfully here, still getting the occasional ball to rise awkwardly, but the India batsmen are mostly dealing with it capably.

29th over: India 133-3 (Rayudu 24, Raina 3) (target 228)

Cook continues to hold his quicks back, instead bringing back Joe Root for Tredwell. Rayudu sweeps him for two, a sprawling Finn doing well to cut it off on the boundary and then fling it to a team-mate to throw to the keeper. A jumble of ones and twos fro the over.

28th over: India 126-3 (Rayudu 19, Raina 2) (target 228)

Stokes is finding a bit of life here, a testing out-swinger beating Rayudu outside off-stump, before the batsman has to dig out a yorker but he manages a single from it. He’s going through the repertoire here, as a slower full toss follows, which Raina works away for one. England can and should attack here. Only three from an accomplished over.

27th over: India 123-3 (Rayudu 17, Raina 1) (target 228)

More from Tredwell, and Raina is off the mark by dancing down the track and driving for one. There are two singles for Rayudu too, but it’s a tight over, and a good one.

26th over: India 120-3 (Rayudu 15, Raina 0) (target 228)

Cook gives Stokes a go from the Pavilion End this time but Kohli greets him with a textbook cover drive to the ropes for four, but just as he’s begining to enjoy himself, Kohli is out, clipping an on-drive straight to Tredwell, who takes an easy catch. It brings Wednesday’ match-winner, Raina, to the crease and Stokes welcomes him with a surprisingly zesty bouncer. He also has an appeal for lbw against the left-hander but it’s outside leg stump

There appeared to be some words/banter/unpleasantness between Stokes and Kohli after the latter’s dismissal. What is it about these two teams and Trent Bridge, yea all the way back to sweet-gate in 2007?

25th over: India 116-2 (Kohli 36, Rayudu 15) (target 228)

Tredwell continues, but this pair are settled now, and Kohli advances down the pitch to clobber a lofted four past mid-on. It’s too easy now. Anyone fancy a sweep on the precise over and ball at which India will win?

24th over: India 109-2 (Kohli 27, Rayudu 14) (target 228)

Kohli sweeps a low full toss from Root down to fine leg for two as he moves into the 30s – a big deal for him in the context of his summer – before Rayudu gloves the first boundary for a while as his mis-timed sweep nonetheless zips past Buttler and down to the ropes. It’s a procession, and 228-4 after 41.3 overs still feels about right.

23rd over: India 102-2 (Kohli 27, Rayudu 10) (target 228)

This feels like the bar-filling phase of the match - middle overs, easy singles, no pyrotechnics from either batsman or bowlers. Cook tries to shake things up in the field a bit by bringing an offside and leg-sider fielder in a touch, and Rayudu duly clears the in-field next ball with some canny footwork and a good gap-finding chip over wide mid-on for two.

22nd over: India 98-2 (Kohli 26, Rayudu 7) (target 228)

Spin at both ends worked for India; can, he asks slightly pathetically, it work for England? Here comes Joe Root from the pavilion end anyway, and he concedes two singles first up, and a leg-bye, and nothing else.

21st over: India 95-2 (Kohli 25, Rayudu 6) (target 228)

Tredwell changes his line of attack to the new man Rayudu, coming in from around the wicket. He yields two singles to him, and two to Kohli. Good bowling, if only England had more runs to play with.

20th over: India 91-2 (Kohli 23, Rayudu 4) (target 228)

Finn is still finding some bounce off a slugglish surface and every now and then manages to give the batsmen something to think about, as he does with the second ball of this over, a bit of chin music which Rayudu has to evade awkwardly. He adds two, though, with a decent cut past backward point’s futile dive, but it’s a decent over from Finn, with some nice variety.

19th over: India 88-2 (Kohli 22, Rayudu 2) (target 228)

Tredwell returns, and is tight and accurate, finding a bit of turn and flight, and concedes only two singles. Good bowling. And useful bowling if more wickets can be found.

18th over: India 86-2 (Kohli 21, Rayudu 1) (target 228)

Kohli turns a short-ish one from Finn past short leg for a single, and there’s one more for Rahane on the off-side. There’s also a scampered three from a pull in front of the wicket by Kohli. Finn is banging it in on a slow pitch – so much so on one occasion that he concedes a wide – but there’s no joy for him that way. So he pitches one up – and strikes! He induces an edge as Rahane seeks to steer it down to third man and Buttler takes a low catch. New boy Rayudu is off the mark straight away.

17th over: India 79-1 (Rahane 44, Kohli 17) (target 228)

Stokes continues, and maintains a decent testing line and length in the main, and England’s offside fielders are on their mettle, Joe Root stopping a certain four on the boundary from a fierce cover drive from Kohli. It’s a good over but defeat here – and indeed in the other matches in the series – looks as inevitable for England as it did for India in the final two Test matches. Can something, anything - literally anything - unexpected possible happen at some point?

16th over: India 78-1 (Rahane 44, Kohli 16) (target 228)

The booing, it transpires, is unsurprisingly aimed at Anderson. Mere Banter, I’m sure, and who can possibly be irked by the exalted Bantz? Rahane and Kohli take it in turns to add singles from Finn - there’s four in all, and that’s all they need to do. Kohli also looks well placed to play himself back into form here.

15th over: India 74-1 (Rahane 42, Kohli 14) (target 228)

Tredwell is replaced by Ben Stokes, but no real sign of a breakthrough. Instead, the India batsmen are beginning to open their shoulders, as Rahane demontrates with another clean straight drive for six. He’s had a decent summer over all.

Has there ever been a tour featuring so few close, competitive cricket matches – one way or the other - as this one by India?

14th over: India 67-1 (Rahane 35, Kohli 14) (target 228)

Kohli takes a single off Finn, and then Rahane cracks a magnificent uppish drive past the crowded offside field for four. There are six runs from the over in total and this is beginning to look, well, like we expected it to look.

So here’s a missive mentioning beards - well Moeen Ali really – that’s not actually from Keith Flett, but from Andrew Benton:

Sadly, the only person England really need in their team - Moeen Ali - seems to have been omitted again. The man is an uber-wicket-meister, a bearded bowling bonanza. Mohammad Ali had the Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manila, why can’t the great Moeen have the Squidge at Trent Bridge, or the Stun in Brum? Erm, maybe your readers have better suggestions for rhymes....

13th over: India 61-1 (Rahane 30, Kohli 13) (target 228)

This is how to play spin. Kohli steps forward and lofts Tredwell straight and high and over the ropes for six. The difference between the sides in a nutshell though - even India’s most out of form player can nonchalantly smack a spinner out of the park

More boos. Am trying to work out which I find more irritating at cricket out of beer snakes and Mexican waves. Thoughts?

12th over: India 54-1 (Rahane 30, Kohli 6) (target 228)

Steven Finn is back, at the scene of his near meltdown in the first Ashes Test last year, and his first ball is short and wide and cut for two by Rahane. His next two are better, but his fourth is lofted over mid-off with power and panache by the opener. Not the worst over in the world, eight come from it, but England need a wicket-taking burst from the Middlesex man here. The crowd are booing about something or other - hopefully someone’s confiscated one of those tiresome beer snakes.

11th over: India 46-1 (Rahane 22, Kohli 6) (target 228)

We have the first bowling change – Tredwell for Anderson at the Radcliffe Road End – and he yields four from it. The batsmen take turns to work him off their legs for one, before Kohli steers an edge past the keeper for two, but the spinner finds a little drift and some accuracy in a decent over.

10th over: India 42-1 (Rahane 21, Kohli 3) (target 228)

There’s something quite old school, quite 1979 World Cup, about England using the same two bowlers for the first 10 overs, but neither Woakes nor Anderson have bowled that badly so far, and Woakes continues. Kohli adds one more to boost his average, and Rahane is mostly watchful, though there’s a good straight drive for no runs asfirst Woakes’s boot and then Finn field smartly. So that’s 4.2 an over off the first powerplay. England were 48-0 at this stage, for what it’s worth (ie not much).

9th over: India 41-1 (Rahane 21, Kohli 2) (target 228)

England persist with Anderson, which is probably wise as it gives him a chance to have a decent go at the fragile Kohli. But he doesn’t get a chance this over, as Rahane monopolises the strike, sending the third ball of the over past the bowler with a terrific cover drive, but otherwise defending.

8th over: India 37-1 (Rahane 17, Kohli 2) (target 228)

No bowling changes yet and Dhawan hits a pose-holding straight drive past Woakes for four. Emboldened, he tries a rasping square cut off the next ball but smacks it straight to Morgan, who takes a smart catch. An air of macabre fascination descends as the former run-machine Virat Kohli comes to the crease. His first three balls are defensively-played dots before, to huge cheers, he gets off the mark with a flicked two on the legside.

7th over: India 31-0 (Rahane 17, Dhawan 12) (target 228)

The first wide of the innings is bowled by Anderson, who pushes it too far down the legside. Rahane takes him for an easy two with a controlled pull to deep square leg, but he almost plays on in the following ball when he tries to repeat the shot but inside-edges it down past the stumps.

6th over: India 28-0 (Rahane 15, Dhawan 12) (target 228)

Woakes slightly strays down the legside and Dhawan picks him off for an easy one – and all India need is easy ones really – and Rahane defly steers a shorter one down to third man for another single. Two follow on the legside as Dhawan works it through the gaps. Morgan then shows his agility with a sharp sprawling stop from a venomous square cut.

5th over: India 24-0 (Rahane 14, Dhawan 9) (target 228)

Two runs from this one, a dab from Rahane behind gully, and a legside single for Dhawan. It’s accurate and probing from Anderson, but England need wickets.

4th over: India 22-0 (Rahane 13, Dhawan 8) (target 228)

A fine response from Woakes, a flawless maiden. He begins his second over as he began his first, with a snorter past the left-handed Dhawan’s outside edge. And keeps the batsman honest with a couple more accurate, just short of a length, balls. Dhawan can’t work him away and it’s a runless over.

3rd over: India 22-0 (Rahane 13, Dhawan 8) (target 228)

Expensive. Dhawan chips Anderson over the in-field for two and follows up with a swift single to mid-on. Rahana then offers a statement of intent with a fierce pull shot through midwicket for four, beating Ian Bell’s valiant dive. Four more follow, with the sort of cover drive that one is contractually obliged to describe as sumptuous.

And it’s fun with stats time, courtesy of John Starbuck:

As Alex Hales has the top score (though joint this time) in the innings again, it prompts the question: who has the record for most ODI top scores under 50? It could help set a target for his next innings.Also, given that Anderson and Tredwell look the likeliest today, plus the calls to bring in Notts ODI captain and superbat Taylor, can we have a team made up entirely of Jimmies?

2nd over: India 11-0 (Rahane 5, Dhawan 5) (target 228)

Chris Woakes introduces himself to Dhawan with a lovely ripping outswinger jagged off the seam that beats the batsman all ends up. Dhawan lets rip with a thumping square cut that stings backward point’s hands before almost deflecting to the boundary before Morgan recovers it well and they take three. Rahane then punishes the first wayward delivery of the innings - full and drifting down leg side – with a disdainful flick to fine leg for four. He and Dhawan add one more each in a productive over for India but not a bad one by Woakes, who found some bounce and movement.

1st over: India 2-0 (Rahane 0, Dhawan 1) (target 228)

Anderson has the first new ball, and Rahane, promoted in Rohit Sharma’s absence, takes guard. The first, an exaggerated outswinger, is let through, but the next three are on the money and are met with standard defensive shots, before a flick off the pad brings a leg-bye down to fine leg. Dhawan dabs a single down to deep backward point and that’s all from a decent first over.

49th over: England 209-8 (Finn 4 Tredwell 15) Matt Fordham writes, “Just wondering whose idea it was that the aim of one day cricket was to ‘bat out the overs’ instead of simply scoring as man as possible?” I tend to agree with you actually. I’d wager having a swing and going for a few streaky boundaries is a better idea than trying to scratch around for three an over then getting out anyway.

Finn does go after a short one from Shami but doesn’t quite middle it and the ball squirts away for a single. “The innings is just petering out,” says Bumble, 25 overs too late. Four singles from the penultimate effing over.

48th over: England 205-8 (Finn 2 Tredwell 13) Ashwin returns and Buttler unfurls a nice reverse sweep to bring up the 200, before he perishes looking to step up a gear. You can’t blame him for being left in a no-win situation by the middle order, and indeed by the openers who got out when well set. Ashwin has been brilliant today and ends with 3-39.

47th over: England 198-7 (Buttler 38 Tredwell 12) Tredwell isn’t going to die wondering. He got away with a couple of big swipes in that last over and now gets a big top edge over Dhoni, but it plugs in the outfield. Buttler then looks to crunch a full one back down the ground but it clunks hard, straight into Shami’s boot. That’s a bit unlucky for the batsman. Tredwell then cuts a short one in front of square for four, before slogging horribly to cow corner for four more.

46th over: England 182-7 (Buttler 37 Tredwell 1) I shouldn’t be angry, we’ve watched this innings several times before.

Jadeja appeals for LBW against Tredwell but it’s hit him outside the line of off-stump and was probably going over anyway. That’s 10 excellent overs from Jadeja, which brought him 1-38.

45th over: England 182-7 (Buttler 35) Shami returns, Woakes swishes and Woakes misses, so Dhoni takes it. Eight an over from here would get a pathetic 226. Tom Davies is going to be OBOing for all of five minutes or so while India knock these off. Buttler goes for the ramp shot but is late and misses out. And again. Dhoni now sends fine leg back, so Buttler drives but can’t get it through the gap. The difference in quality between Dhoni’s ODI captaincy and Test captaincy is stunning and his field placings come off again as Woakes gets out on the hook.

44th over: England 180-6 (Buttler 34 Woakes 14) Buttler looked as though he was going to let go earlier, but he’s been reigned in by some nice spin bowling. You’d wager he has to go soon and he’s missed out here on a full toss. At last though, the reverse sweep comes out and finally we have the second boundary since the 18th over. That’s just the 11th boundary overall and there’s not been a single six. I wonder if England have looked at an ODI scorecard from anywhere in the world at all in the past five years? Because having not done so is the only excuse for thinking this is an acceptable way to build a total.

43rd over: England 173-6 (Buttler 29 Woakes 12) The football’s on.

42nd over: England 167-6 (Buttler 27 Woakes 8) At least we’re not seeing these two awkwardly work four singles from every over anymore. For the sixth time in the last seven overs, three come from it. Two came from the other.

41st over: England 164-6 (Buttler 25 Woakes 7) The next England match will be the fourth ODI at Edgbaston on September 2nd. Two adults and two kids can enjoy a family day out for about £260. Or they could tour the Parisian sewers, to also stare at a load of crap.

40th over: England 161-6 (Buttler 23 Woakes 6) Last over of the powerplay then; England have scored at under 2.5 an over so far in this period of fielding restrictions, so they could do with an improvement. I’m not sure they even know this is a powerplay: three from the over, which I guess does constitute an improvement. 12-1 from the five overs of powerplay.

39th over: England 158-6 (Buttler 21 Woakes 5) This is very poor. Buttler edges just short of slip before scampering a single, then Woakes gets a big leading edge that doesn’t quite find point. Three from this over.

38th over: England 155-6 (Buttler 19 Woakes 4) Overpitched and wide from Ashwin and Woakes... can’t beat the man at cover. In fairness that was a very good diving stop to keep the batsman to one. Just one more single from the over.

37th over: England 153-6 (Buttler 18 Woakes 3) Only against England would you bowl Ravi Jadeja in a powerplay. With the extra man no longer allowed outside the circle, Dhoni brings in another close catcher. Three from the over and this is appalling from England, great stuff from India.

Ian Copestake is back: “The commentators were saying before the mess happened, ‘Ian Bell is a great player of spin, I mean Eoin (Ian) Morgan is a great player of spin, no, I mean Joe Root is a great player of spin...’ before moving on to all the players not picked who are also great players of spin.”

36th over: England 150-6 (Buttler 17 Woakes 1) Who wants powerplay? England do, but India take advantage of it. Stokes gets what I think is his 11th single-figure score in his last 12 international innings. That was an absolute beauty from Raina. India were awful in the field in the Tests but have been brilliant here, as epitomised by that take. 150 is up but that’s not to be celebrated right now.

35th over: England 149-5 (Buttler 17 Stokes 2) Buttler isn’t hanging around now as he punches three more through mid-off. Stokes then gets off the mark with a dab down to third man. Replays show that Raina wasn’t backing up Mohit Sharma’s throw for the run-out at all and was as surprised as anyone when the stumps detonated behind him.

Statgasm time: with the dismissal of Cook, Dhoni went out on his own at the top of the list of keepers with the most stumpings across all formats.

34th over: England 143-5 (Buttler 14 Stokes 0) 17 from 31 balls, this partnership at the start of Raina’s over and it doesn’t improve much as Mohit Sharma, who snuck back on unannounced, brings it to an end remorselessly. Buttler then punches nicely off the back foot through cover for the first boundary in an over or so. Barring anything special from this pair, I’ll wager England have already lost this.

33rd over: England 137-4 (Buttler 8 Bell 28) A bit of a respite, perhaps, for England as the seamer Shami returns. Perhaps Dhoni feels that Bell is looking comfortable and wants to shake things up. Good running as Buttler drops one into the on-side and scurries for two. Four runs off the over because of course there are.

“Looking on the bright side,” says Ian Copestake, not really getting into the spirit of England fandom, “England scored more runs against spin. In your face India.”

32nd over: England 133-4 (Buttler 5 Bell 28) Watching Jos Buttler try and simply rotate the strike is like watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic try and play in goal.

31st over: England 131-4 (Buttler 4 Bell 27) A slip and a silly point for Jadeja to Buttler here. “He’s got a staggering record against England in ODI cricket,” says Athers of Jadeja. “Most spinners have,” responds Sir Iron Bottom. I’ll admit, that made me chuckle. A couple guided down to third man for Bell are the highlight of the over.

30th over: England 127-4 (Buttler 3 Bell 24) Morgan, incidentally, averages 17 since the post-Ashes series, with no fifties to his name. I doubt England will drop him in this series, but they’ll be thinking about it. There’s a big shout for LBW here against Buttler; it’s given not out, possibly pitched outside leg, but it’s a very good shout.

29th over: England 123-4 (Buttler 1 Bell 22) Remember when England were 82-0? Yeah me too. Once again then it looks like they’ll be relying on Jos Buttler to provide the spark and he’s got plenty of time to play a mighty innings here. The thing is that, comfortable as Ian Bell has looked so far, you reckon they’ll need Buttler as Finn’s return for Jordan does weaken the tail a bit.

28th over: England 120-4 (Bell 20) Ashwin is back on and Dhoni clearly has faith in him to get quite a bit of turn as he’s keeping a leg slip in place to the right-handed Bell. “At some point, someone will get caught there,” notes Michael Holding dryly. England then take a great big giant leap through the door marked “malodorous stuff this way”

27th over: England 117-3 (Morgan 9 Bell 18) Bell uses his feet nicely and hammers Jadeja through backward point for three, the boundary prevented by a lovely bit of work from Dhawan on the rope. These two are already showing their capability for working the ball into gaps, which is important at this stage.

26th over: England 110-3 (Morgan 7 Bell 13) With Ganguly talking through the minutiae, the small details and subtleties of playing spin well, Morgan hammers a slog sweep flat to deep mid-wicket for a single. They get five in ones and twos from the over, but that should be a bare minimum against these part-timers.

25th over: England 105-3 (Morgan 5 Bell 10) “He’s a better player of spin, Ian Morgan,” says Sourav Ganguly on Sky and it’s not the worst case of getting a name wrong you’ll ever hear: these two are easily England’s best hope of not crumbling horribly here.

24th over: England 101-3 (Morgan 3 Bell 8) It really is turning here and I’m wondering if England should perhaps have picked Moeen Ali ahead of Stokes or Woakes here. Raina draws the edge from Morgan and the batsman sighs in relief at the lack of pace in the pitch, which prevents it from carrying to slip. Bell works one around the corner to bring up England’s hundred, but just three singles from the over.

23rd over: England 98-3 (Morgan 1 Bell 7) It was actually a lovely ball from popularity’s Ravi Jadeja to beat Root there, pitching on middle and turning away from the batsman. Morgan works it to fine leg for a single to get off the mark.

22nd over: England 96-2 (Root 2 Bell 6) A huge shout against Root as Raina gets one to turn back in a long way and pin him – shocker – on the back foot. The umpire reckons it was high and Hawkeye says “umpire’s call”, but that was really really close. England will be annoyed that they survived the difficult stuff earlier from the seamer then lost both openers to part-time spinners. Rayudu tends to keep wicket more than he bowls.

It looks as though Cook may have brushed that with his bat, so he may in fact have been caught behind.

21st over: England 94-2 (Root 1 Bell 5) The first wide of the innings comes in the 21st over, which I guess is impressive. Then the weirdest of appeals from Rayudu as he leaps up, arms akimbo, and down shrieking “howzat” repeatedly in a high-pitched voice... all on his own as no one has any clue what he’s appealing for! Dhoni has his back turned as Cook had just guided the ball down the backward point for one. In fact the cheer is far more muted for the actual wicket. Root comes in and gets a single first ball.

20th over: England 90-1 (Cook 43 Bell 4) Raina continues and Bell punches down the ground for one, before a bump ball for Cook brings a muted cheer from the crowd, who were lulled into thinking there was a c&b there. Once again, four singles from the over. I wish my copy & paste function was working better now, as I fear we may see that a lot in the next few overs.

19th over: England 86-1 (Cook 41 Bell 2) So Cook and Bell, the much derided partnership, come together and the new man Rayudu is going to get the first bowl at them. It’s a very round-arm action he has; this is his 13th ODI and just his eight over in the format, with no wickets to his name so far. He does have a reasonable (for a part-timer) List A economy of 5.80 though. Two singles apiece for the batsmen here.

18th over: England 82-1 (Cook 39) A bowler light thanks to Sharma’s injury, Dhoni turns to Suresh Raina’s off-spin. He drops a bit short and Cook waits before clubbing over mid-wicket again for four. It’s very much a valve shot, that one for Cook, and India have probably allowed him to use it to take the pressure off a touch too often. Never mind that though as Hales, perhaps feeling a bit pressurised with Cook’s batting being far slower than that of his usual opening partner Michael Lumb, goes on the attack and perishes.

Speaking of Cook, here’s Chris Mardo. “Watching Cook bat this morning has been painful. He simply doesn’t have the range of scoring options necessary for ODI cricket. If he gets a ball just short of a length and on the stumps he struggles to manufacture a single, let alone a boundary. We all know he can cut and pull, but if you don’t bowl short he is totally becalmed. He and the coach have to recognise that... don’t they?” It goes back to what I was saying earlier about the fine line between determination and stubbornness.

17th over: England 75-0 (Cook 33 Hales 41) In other news, if you’re interested:

Cook gets a single before Hales charges Shami and looks to slog him wildly over mid-on. The bat gets nowhere near the ball, sadly, otherwise that was probably flying a long way. There follows a shout for LBW; he’s plumb other than that he’s got a big inside edge on it. Toploader’s horrifying version of ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ comes on over the PA and I might end it all now.

16th over: England 74-0 (Cook 32 Hales 41) Ashwin is round the wicket still and Hales pushes him behind square on the leg-side to move to his highest ODI score. The bowler then drops short and, as it turns away, Cook hammers the cut shot – I think the first time he’s brought out his favourite shot today – but picks out the fielder so it’s a single.

15th over: England 72-0 (Cook 31 Hales 40) Lovely pull shot by Hales as he reaches a high bumper outside off and pulls it down, through midwicket and sadly straight to the fielder in the deep, meaning just a single.

14th over: England 69-0 (Cook 31 Hales 37) Oh no, the gremlins are back in the system and they’re back in Cook’s batting as he gets a leading edge from Ashwin that drops safe. Four then to Hales as he just tickles one around the corner off the inside edge, beating Kumar’s dive. Not brilliant cricket that. There’s also a bit of spin from around the wicket here for Ashwin. Cook sweeps and it looks to be going for four, but the spin on the ball means it sits up nicely for the fielder who can keep it to one.

13th over: England 61-0 (Cook 28 Hales 32) “Try refreshing the page,” suggests the man in the editor’s chair/technical whizz John Ashdown. Embarrassingly, this has worked. Shami, who has Ravi Bopara’s face on the shape of Sunil Gavaskar’s head, continues and Hales glides him away for a single. That, and a single to square leg for Cook, are your lot for the over.

12th over: England 59-0 (Cook 27 Hales 31) Sharma is now being helped off the field as we have some technical issues here. You know those smug people who tell you “Macs just work”? Well they don’t and you’re legally obliged to punch them in the face*.

Ashwin is into the attack and Hales steps down the track, backs away and drives him over mid-off for four. Ashwin comes around the wicket after that and drifts one past the bat. Dhoni whips the bails off and the umpires check it, but he’s safe.

*Sadly, this is not true.

11th over: England 52-0 (Cook 26 Hales 25) The powerplay is done then and, while it wasn’t the greatest in history, England I guess will be pleased to come through it unscathed given the discomfort they looked to be in earlier and a pair of scampered singled bring up their 50. Speaking of discomfort, Mohit Sharma is still down having treatment.

Cook then drives through extra cover; it’s reeled in on the boundary but poor running keeps three runs on offer down to two. On Sky, Botham is espousing the fun of fox hunting, because he is an odious human being.

10th over: England 48-0 (Cook 23 Hales 24) Another short one at 84mph and that’s something Cook can play assuredly: up and over mid-wicket this one goes for a one-bounce four. There are some people in fancy dress as a fox hunt. The mid-innings break will involve badger bating, dog fights and Death Race 2000.

“If Sharma has just taken a pounding,” begins John Starbuck, “no wonder he needs a bit of relaxation. Maybe they should add some whale song and tinkling crystals to help with the back rub. Oh, and a banana, which often seems to do the trick for tennis players.”

9th over: England 43-0 (Cook 18 Hales 24) Alastair Cook is, we’re told, the fifth fastest Englishman to get to 3,000 ODI runs. Of 13. He gets yet another outside edge here, well wide of slip and away for another run. This is horrible to watch. Hales then plays late and runs it away to backward point for a couple more.

8th over: England 39-0 (Cook 17 Hales 21) Mohammad Shami comes into the attack for Sharma, who took a bit of a pounding in that last over. He immediately tucks Hales up, getting it to loop up off the thigh pad. He then tries the yorker but gets it wrong, Hales punching straight back past the stumps for four. Sharma, incidentally, is lying down on the boundary having a back rub and changing his boots. He doesn’t look too comfortable right now. Another missed yorker gets drilled through wide mid-wicket but is well stopped to keep it down to three.

7th over: England 32-0 (Cook 17 Hales 14) Width from Kumar and Hales rocks back and cuts down to deep backward point, where Shami saves a run in the good ol’ fashioned manner of kicking it back into the field of play. Cook then gets four as he pushes hard and edges, again, through the newly-vacated position of second slip. It might well have carried but only just as there’s very little pace in this pitch. Cook looks dreadful outside of off-stump, to be honest, far better when he comes down the track and shuffles across looking to push into the on-side.

6th over: England 24-0 (Cook 12 Hales 11) A four! An actual bloody four! Sharma drops short on a slow pitch and Cook pulls it up, easy as you like, over mid-wicket for the first boundary. Sharma pitches it up after that though and has Cook fishing. Emboldened, the bowler goes a bit fuller and Cook drives only to be foiled by an excellent diving stop at mid-off by Kohli. The batsmen take a single then Hales steps back to leg and drives cleanly through extra cover for four more. The next ball is a fraction shorter but no matter as Hales repeats the trick. That’s more like it, two lovely shots from Hales there.

5th over: England 11-0 (Cook 7 Hales 3) Kumar finally bowls the outswinger to Hales and he runs it down to wide third man for one. He then draws another genuine edge from Cook but there was never any danger as it flew low through the vacant gully region for a single. Both batsmen have a real predilection for the off-side and neither has been able to play through it.

4th over: England 9-0 (Cook 6 Hales 2) Hales doesn’t look too comfortable either; he gets an inside edge on to his pads here and it’s been a very good start from India’s bowlers, with the faintest hints of chances coming. Hales gets off the mark with a push to Shami at mid-on and a hurried single; the ball missed the stumps but I reckon Hales would have been safe. Another chance now as Cook prods and edges just wide of second slip! Down to third man it goes for a single. Hales drops it into the off-side and squeezes another single; he looked very cramped there by a back-of-a-length one angled back into him. Just three from that over and India’s bowlers have been right on the money so far.

3rd over: England 6-0 (Cook 5 Hales 0) Everything from Kumar so far has been an inswinger to Cook, coming back into his off-stump and forcing him to defend. To counter this, the captain moves forward and right across his stumps and hoicks it through square leg for two more. The penultimate ball though brings a leading edge as Cook looks to turn his bat too quickly and the ball loops up and over the outstretched arm of the bowler.

2nd over: England 4-0 (Cook 3 Hales 0) From the other end, with t’other new ball, it’s the nippy Mohit Sharma. Actually the pitch is nowhere near as brown as the one used for the Test, so this might not be such a trudge. Although Alastair Cook has the strike now, so there is that. He has a prod at a good ball angled across him and the ball zips through to Dhoni; there’s no swing for Sharma and, despite having a bit of pace about him, you would think a decent ODI batting lineup should be able to take him for runs here as the ball should come on to the bat nicely. Cook pulls awkwardly for a single to get off strike from the fourth ball. I’ve also just realised the Hales is still on 0, having taken a leg-bye rather than a real, earned run in that first over.

1st over: England 3-0 (Cook 2 Hales 0) There’s not a lot of grass on the pitch, but Kumar should be able to get a bit of swing here so there are two slips in place. The first ball moves back into Cook a touch and he nudges it to square leg off his pads for a single. There’s a huge cheer from the Indians as Hales swings at his first ball and the ball balloons up in the air where it’s caught by Dhoni; it was off the thigh pad though. Kumar is moving it both ways here, swinging it back into the right-hander with a packed off-side field. The batsman likes to score through the off-side, but he gets his first run with a nudge off his pads. Another single to Cook, again through square leg, to end the over.

The players are out on the pitch, which means we’re about to get going. Bhuvi Kumar will open the bowling.

And our first email of the day! “Morning, Dan.” Morning, Ian Copestake. “Sorry to hear about your finger. Talking of injuries, but to pride, I enjoyed the cricket far more when India were disinterested. I thought the 50 over game was due to die a death some years ago, or was that a cunning ploy by all the other nations to dupe England into thinking Tests were the only worthy pursuit?” Judging by the size of the crowd, consider the English duped.

In other news, I’ve just seen an advert for a cricket movie starring Don Draper.

Speaking of Simpsons references, today I am wearing the greatest t-shirt ever.

There are actually the shoots of a good ODI side here. Hales, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Finn and Anderson are all excellent shouts. Taylor and Roy I’d love to see come in and Broad has to come back.

England Team

AN Cook*, AD Hales, IR Bell, JE Root, EJG Morgan, JC Buttler†, BA Stokes, CR Woakes, JC Tredwell, ST Finn, JM Anderson

India Team

AM Rahane, S Dhawan, V Kohli, AT Rayudu, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, Mohammed Shami, MM Sharma

The toss

MS Dhoni wins it and opts to field. Rohit Sharma is out and replaced by Ambati Rayudu, who will bat in the middle order with Rahane moving up to open.

Cook says he would have batted first and that Finn returns for the first time in a year, in place of Chris Jordan.

Keep your Simpsons references coming, folks. They’re all that’s keeping me going.

This isn’t the same pitch that disgraced the first Test, but it still doesn’t look too clever to me. Perhaps that’s the reason for picking Finn: he’s likely to be the only bowler to extract any pace from it today.

Things I’ve learned today include that a bandaged finger (right, middle, if you were wondering) is not conducive to OBOing. Today’s entries might be a little pithier than usual.

Weather watch: It’s grey and chilly in Nottingham, but the rain should hold off until at least around 5pm. Even then, we’re not expecting it to affect the match much.

Also Steven Finn is reportedly marking out his run-up. Which is exciting news.

Preamble

Morning folks. Now that England’s Test team is completely fixed and running brilliantly – shut up it totally absolutely is la la la I am inside cricket and can’t hear you – it has emerged that the one-day side is a little bit... hmm, let’s be kind and call it rusty. As strong as India’s performance was at Cardiff – and Suresh Raina’s 74-ball hundred was a whirlwind of brilliant brutishness – the way Alastair Cook’s men folded was pretty pathetic. We can accuse India of not caring about Test cricket all we like (although we’d be enormously glib to do so), but the same failure to adapt and move forward with the times that MS Dhoni and co. showed in the longer format has long been aped by England in the shorter.

Alastair Cook is a determined man and that was part of the reason England fought back well to take advantage of some good luck and win the Test series. You get the feeling though that his determination can sometimes spill over into stubbornness, and that if he were a little more pragmatic then he wouldn’t be in this ODI side. In it he is though and with few people outside the England setup thinking he should be, most eyes will be on Alex Hales.

The Notts batsman was a little muted on debut but still top-scored with 40, which says more about the rest of the team’s performance with the bat. Still, he averages 76.80 for his county in List A matches this season – second only to James “Who? Nope Never Heard of Him and I Should Because I’m an England Selector So He Can’t Possibly Exist” Taylor – with a strike rate of 120.00. Throw in his three hundreds from just five matches and it beggars belief that this is only his second ODI.

Despite the rest of the batsmen being, quite frankly, pants at Cardiff, it’s likely to be the bowlers who pay the price. This would normally prompt much gnashing of teeth, but given that many of them were equally crappy then it won’t upset many if at least one of Jordan, Stokes or Woakes made way for Finn and/or Gurney. Jordan and Stokes bowled a combined 17 wicketless overs and both finished with economy rates north of seven and, although Woakes’ figures of 4-52 aren’t the worst from ten overs, he lost it at the death and allowed Raina and Dhoni to, well, go a bit mad.

There’s been a spat, as any difference of opinion is now legally obliged to be called, between Cook and Graeme Swann in the press lately. The Deer Hunter reacted rather spikily to the former spinner’s suggestion that a rest would benefit his old mate and that he really doesn’t need to be doing this. For perhaps the first time ever, I and just about everyone else agrees with Swann entirely here, so Cook has a lot to prove as both opener and captain in this format. Lose here and with the match goes any chance of a series win.

Play gets underway at 10.30am BST. Until then, why not kick back with some Wilco?