Dhoni says India allowed Moeen to dominate

SOUTHAMPTON (TIP): India crashed to a humiliating 266-run defeat against England in the third Test after an abject batting surrender on Day 5 allowed the hosts level the five-match series 1-1, at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, on July 30 . Needing to bat out the day, with six wickets in hand, to save the match, the Indians crumbled in the first session itself and were bundled out for a meagre 178 in 66.4 overs.

It was one of India’s biggest Test defeats in terms of runs on English soil, but not their worst, having lost by a mammoth 319 runs in Nottingham on the last tour, in 2011. The victory ended England’s winless streak of 10 Tests, since the last Ashes series Down Under. To add insult to the injury, it was parttime off-spinner Moeen Ali who bamboozled the lower-order batsmen and ended up with a career-best haul of 6 for 67 from 20.4 overs.

MS Dhoni has said that India allowed Moeen Ali to dominate proceedings and that the team should not be overly worried after the 266-run loss at Southampton “It was not like we were expecting them to win.We knew they would come back strongly. For us the challenge was to keep the momentum going after winning at Lord’s,” said Dhoni in his post-match analysis, failing to mention that his team had fallen well short of expectations at the Ageas Bowl.

The following was his candid confession: “This Test showed some areas where we need to improve.We need to take 20 wickets to win but in this game we were not able to take even 10! That was a setback to a certain extent. Our batsmen played fast bowlers better, but we allowed Moeen to bowl his line and length on a pitch that underwent lots of wear and tear.