Yuvraj Singh smashed a rapid century and Irfan Pathan grabbed four wickets as India beat England by 49 runs in the third one-day international here on Monday.
The 24-year-old Yuvraj struck three sixes and 10 fours in his 76-ball 103 -- his seventh hundred in one-dayers -- as India posted a challenging 294-6 before restricting England to 245 in hot and humid conditions.
England all-rounder Paul Collingwood gave a good account of himself, top-scoring with a brave 84-ball 93 which included one six and 10 fours.
He put on 105 for the seventh wicket with Geraint Jones (32), but the stand came too late to stop India from gaining a 3-0 lead in the sevenmatch series.
England were virtually out of the game when they lost six wickets for 100, but Collingwood and Jones defied the Indian attack with their responsible knocks under pressure.
The task, however, always looked beyond their reach as the asking-rate kept climbing, with England needing 116 off the last 10 overs with five wickets in hands.
"We have been playing some good one-day cricket in recent times and we hope to keep the momentum going," said India captain Rahul Dravid.
"The last two matches were close but we ran away with this one, thanks to a big stand between Yuvraj and Suresh Raina."
England, missing key batsman Kevin Pietersen due to illness, initially struggled on a newly-laid track where stroke-making was difficult as the ball came slow onto the bat.
The tourists, who had lost close matches at Delhi and Faridabad, looked like suffering a big defeat after losing six wickets, including three in left-arm seamer Pathan's
opening spell.
Pathan removed Andrew Strauss (seven), Owais Shah (seven) and Ian Blackwell (nine), who was promoted in the batting order, with clever variations in pace.
"If we win the next two matches, we are right backin the series though itis a mountain to climb," said England captain Andrew Flintoff.
"I think the 290-plus was a pretty tough target on this wicket and in
these conditions. But we can still get back into the series."
India earlier wobbled in their middle overs before Yuvraj and teenager Raina (61) went on the rampage. The pair put on 142, India's best fifth-wicket stand against England in one-dayers.
The hosts, electing to bat, had slipped from a healthy 105-1 to
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131-4 before the left-handed pair put the England attack to the sword with a wide range of shots.
Raina, 19, cracked one six and five fours in his 67-ball knock for his second successive half-century following his match-winning 81 not out in the previous game at Faridabad.
The fireworks came from both ends as India plundered 98 in the closing 10 overs to set England a stiff target.
India had lost Virender Sehwag (15) early before Dravid and Pathan put on 78 for the second wicket.
England then bounced back with three wickets in the space of six overs. Collingwood dismissed Dravid, who inside-edged a delivery on to his stumps after making a neat 46.
Pathan (36), a lower-order batsman sent in at number three, failed to capitalise on a good start. He was caught by Collingwood at backward point while driving Flintoff.
Mohammad Kaif's poor run with the bat continued as he fell for a second successive duck, caught behind off Liam Plunkett. He has not reached double figuresin his seveninnings.
England had a chance to put more pressure on India but Raina survived a stumping chance off left-arm spinner Blackwell. The batsman was on 13 when wicket-keeper Jones failed to gather the ball which kept slightlylow.
Raina soon settled down and went on to give Yuvraj valuable support.
SCOREBOARD
Scoreboard of the third one-day international between India and England on Monday:
INDIA
seven-match series 3-0.
Man-of-the-match: Yuvraj Singh.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (PAK) and
Krishna Hariharan (IND)
Fourth one-dayer: April 6 (Kochi)
Sehwag b Anderson 15
Dravid b Collingwood 46
Pathan c Collingwood b Flintoff 36
Yuvraj c Collingwood b Flintoff 103 Kaif c Jones b Plunkett 0
Raina b Flintoff 61
Dhoni not out 13
Powar not out 1
Extras: (lb-3, nb-2, w-14) 19
Total: (For 6 wkts in 50 overs) 294 Fall of wkts: 1-27, 2-105, 3-130, 4-131, 5-273, 6-288.
Bowler O M R W
Anderson 9 1 40 1
Mahmood 8 0 66 0
Flintoff 9 0 56 3
Plunkett 6 0 39 1
Blackwell 10 1 42 0
Collingwood 5 0 31 1
Solanki 3 0 17 0
ENGLAND
Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 7
Prior run out 37
Blackwell b Pathan 9
Shah c Yuvraj b Pathan 7
Flintoff c Sehwag b Powar 15
Collingwood c Raina b Harbhajan 93
Solanki c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 10 Jones c Sehwag b Pathan 32
Plunkett b Agarkar 18
Mahmood bAgarkar 8
Anderson not out 2
Extras: (lb-2, nb-2, w-3) 7
Total: (All out in 48.5 overs) 245 Fall of wkts: 1-8, 2-27, 3-47, 4-78, 583, 6-100, 7-205, 8-223, 9-242.
Bowler O M R W
Pathan 10 0 51 4
Patel 8 0 47 0
Agarkar 7.5 0 34 2
Harbhajan 10 1 47 2
Powar 10 0 45 1
Yuvraj 3 0 19 0
Result: India won by 49 runs to lead