MUMBAI — Ian Bell said England’s 53-run defeat by India A on Sunday was meaningless as a guide to their chances in the five-match one-day series against India.
Report by Supersport
England, who have a final warm-up match today, lost six wickets for 40 runs in a poor batting display.
“It means nothing going into the series whether you do well or do badly. It really is irrelevant. It’s what happens in that first one-day international.
“It’s disappointing to lose, but credit to India A,” said Bell who made 91.”
Chasing a revised 229 from 39 overs to win the match in a cold and foggy Delhi, England collapsed from 32-0 to 72-6. Samit Patel, stand-in skipper Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Craig Kieswetter and Chris Woakes mustered just 17 between them, with Tim Bresnan (22) and Kevin Pietersen (19), England’s next best scorers.
Only Bell, who was dropped twice, managed to make an impact as England were dismissed for 175 from 36 overs.
“Obviously it’s disappointing, but it’s a warm-up game and the one thing this team has done well is not let defeats affect them,” added Bell.
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“We’ll work hard, practise before the next game and work hard in the next game.You want to be as positive as possible. It wasn’t an easy wicket to come down and hit over the top early, it was disappointing to get a couple of those dismissals.”
“That happens, we’ve been here two days. Hopefully that’s out of the system now and we can learn from what we’ve done here and try not to do it again.”
England went into the match without captain Alastair Cook, who had a cold and were led by Eoin Morgan in Ashley Giles’ first match as coach of the side.
Cook’s absence meant Bell opened with Pietersen and Warwickshire batsman Bell hopes to keep his place at the top of the order. “I’ve enjoyed opening, 100%, it’s gone really well in the last three series,” said Bell, who was recalled to the 50-over side after Pietersen’s self-imposed exile.
“We’ve got plenty of options, but it’s something I’ve really enjoyed and something hopefully I do consistently now. They face a Delhi XI today before facing India in the first international in Rajkot on Friday at 06:30 GMT.
England squad: Alastair Cook (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler (wk), Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Stuart Meaker, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes
