NOTTINGHAM, England: India’s spinners again proved England’s undoing as the tourists won the third One-Day International at Trent Bridge on Saturday by six wickets to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

World champions India, chasing a modest 228 for victory, cruised to 228 for four with seven overs to spare.

Ambati Rayudu, only playing because of Rohit Sharma’s tour-ending finger injury, was an ODI-best 64 not out.

Together with Suresh Raina, who followed up his 100 in India’s equally dominant 133-run victory in Cardiff on Wednesday with a run-a-ball 42, Rayudu put on 87 for the fourth wicket.

But it was the first innings that decided the course of the match, with England dismissed for a meager 227 after losing the toss.

They were 82 without loss thanks to under-fire captain Alastair Cook (44) and Alex Hales (42).

But England, as happened in Cardiff, again succumbed to spin as they lost three wickets for 15 runs in six overs to be 97 for three.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, thr man-of-the-match, took three for 39, with only Jos Buttler (42), apart from Cook and Hales, passing 40 in the innings.

England managed just one four in 26 overs midway through their innings and didn’t hit a six until the last over.

Cook and Hales posted their second fifty partnership, off 64 balls, in as many matches.

But their stand ended when Hales, on his Nottinghamshire home ground, top-edged a sweep off spin-bowling all-rounder Raina’s sixth ball and was caught by India captain and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

It was the second time in as many matches that Hales, who made 40 on ODI debut in Cardiff, had fallen to the sweep shot.

His exit was the cue for England to once more get bogged down against slow bowling.

Occasional spinner Rayudu took his first international wicket when he speared one down the legside to have Cook stumped by Dhoni.

Cook, whom former England team-mate Graeme Swann suggested this week should quit one-day cricket because he scores too slowly, took 65 balls to get his runs on Saturday.

Dhoni was involved again when he stumped Joe Root (two) after the batsman lunged forward to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

Eoin Morgan (10) was also undone by spin, Ashwin turning the ball away from the left-hander and Dhoni holding the edge to complete his fourth dismissal of the innings.

An ambling Ian Bell (28) was then run out by Mohit Sharma’s dramatic direct hit from wide long-off.

All-rounder Ben Stokes (two) added to his growing list of low scores for England when Raina held a brilliant low, one-handed, slip catch off Ashwin.

Sri Lanka routs Pakistan to clinch ODI series

Sri Lanka clinched the One-Day International series against Pakistan after their bowlers, led by Thisara Perera, routed the tourists to secure a seven-wicket victory in the deciding third and final match on Saturday in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

Paceman Perera (4-34) used short deliveries to good effect to wreck the middle and lower order as Pakistan folded for 102 in 32.1 overs.

Fawad Alam’s unbeaten 38 was the highest score in their embarrassing batting capitulation that saw only three batsmen reach double digits.

Set a revised 101-run victory target in 48 overs following a rain-intervention, Sri Lanka lost three wickets before romping home with Tillakaratne Dilshan (50 not out) scoring with the kind of fluency none of the Pakistani batsmen could display.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was left to rue his decision to bat first at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium as his team lost the top half of their batting order to reach 55 in the 19th over.

Dhammika Prasad dismissed openers Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad cheaply to deny Pakistan a strong start and Lasith Malinga trapped Mohammad Hafeez leg before to further wreck the top order.

Hafeez was not convinced by the umpire’s call and asked for a review but could not get the decision overturned and the visitors slumped to 14-3 in the eighth over.

Their innings never got any momentum but Misbah and Alam at least offered some resistance which was broken by Dilshan’s accurate throw from point that sent back the Pakistan captain.

Umar Akmal hit Perera for a six but the bowler exacted revenge with the next delivery which the batsman could only top edge to perish.

Perera destroyed Pakistan’s middle order with his four-wicket burst while also taking a smart running catch to send back Shahid Afridi, who had stepped out to hit leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna.