India 3 England 0

Oh dear.  Revenge is a dish best eaten with curry sauce and chapatti.  Having with ease gone 3-0 up in their ODI series against England, the Indian team and their crowd will be disappointed if they do not go on to inflict a whitewash. 

At least the 3rd match in the ODI series was close, but England's Achilles heel in the ODI format is still an issue.  Fantasy Bob's abilities as a forecaster area also an issue of concern to the selectors.  Once again FB's inadequacies have been exposed to to the world for the useless nonsense they are.  He thought that England had gained strength during the summer and established some credibility and self confidence in the 50 over game. Doh!   Once again it's the FB hex.

Dhoni - steered his side home
with successive 4s in the final over

This seems more likely than the reasons so far offered by the experts.  Pundits said after the first match that England didn't hit enough boundaries compared to the Indian batsmen.  If they upped their boundary hitting rate, they would do the job.  OK.  Pundits said after the second match that England didn't rotate the strike enough.  If they kept the singles going, they would do the job.  OK.

In the 3rd match England scored more singles than India.  And they scored more 4 and 6s.  So clever clogs pundits what do you make of that?  One statistic that did carry on to the 3rd game was the fact that English batsmen let a higher number of dot balls go than Indian batsmen.  The difference in Mohali was only marginal - 134 against 128 - but it may reflect the different underlying mentality.   FB thinks this might be significant.  Another indication of a differing mentality may be the run rate per over.  England started slowly - it was the 20th over before they got to 5 and over.  It is to their credit and Samit Patel's in particular that they posted a decent defendable total of 298.  India started on or about the required run rate and kept going.

Patel - 70 from 48 balls -
and he wins a motor bike

England lost the match through indiscipline in the field - a couple of dropped catches behind the wicket and too many extras.  In such a tight game 7 wides and 2 no balls are a big gift to the opposition.  England are letting the strain show.  They have looked unhappy with each other and themselves - and this must be the major concern of the coaching staff.   Something to restore morale and team spirit is required.  FB understands that they have been seeking the views of English rugby coach Martin Johnson.  However FB is not convinced by MJ's suggestion that a dwarf throwing session could help.

(FB apologises for the in the final paragraph.  He hopes that no reader has taken undue offence at the gratuitous mention of Martin Johnston).