London, Sep. 10 : England one-day cricket captain Alastair Cook on Friday said that he was delighted with his team''s two nil scoreline in the ongoing one-day series against India.

Addressing a post-match news conference after England beat India by three wickets in a rain affected event, Cook said: "Very delighted to be two-nil up. But we have come here to win the series. So, a very quick turn around till Lords, we have covered it well and it is a big game again at Lords on Sunday."

An elated Cook attributed his team''s victory to his batsmen who kept their nerves in the death overs.

"It was pleasing the way we handled pressure towards the end, Ravi (Bopara) played really well in that great partnership with Bresnan. So yes it was nerve wracking," said Cook.

He was referring to the England cricket team surviving some anxious moments while chasing 218 from 43 overs under the Duckworth/Lewis system after an hour''s rain break in the day-night match, England survived a wobble in mid-innings to get over the line with seven balls to spare.

Cook also used his time before the media to praise India''s fight back after losing five wickets for 58 runs. India eventually scored 234 for the loss of seven wickets, thanks to good knocks from all-rounder and man of the match Ravinder Jadeja and a 69 from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Off-spinner Ravindra Aswin chipped in with a cheeky unbeaten 36.

"Yes it was a fantastic partnership. You always think it could be more attacking to try and get that wicket, but we did not create another chance. Even if we had slips in for a bit longer, nothing went through that. So a lot of credit to the way Jadeja and Dhoni played. So they got a really competitive total, but I am very delighted the way we chased it," said Cook.

Cook had asked India to bat after winning the toss and won an immediate reward when Ajinkya Rahane, who had scored 155 from 120 balls in his three previous one-day internationals, was dismissed without scoring, caught behind prodding at James Anderson''s fourth delivery of the day.

World Cup champions India, who lost their place at the top of the world rankings during a 4-0 whitewash in the test series, rallied from 58 for five to reach 234 for seven from their 50 overs.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, an injury replacement for Gautam Gambhir, stroked the ball beautifully to score 78 from 89 deliveries. He added 112 with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (69) and 59 from 31 balls with Ravichandran Ashwin (36 not out).

England began brightly with Kieswetter lofting Praveen Kumar for six over the mid-wicket boundary, sweeping a second to fine leg from the same bowler and driving a third off Munaf Patel over long-off.

He lost Cook lbw to Patel for 23 off the last ball of the mandatory powerplay, after the pair had put on 63 off 62 balls for the first wicket, and survived a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance to Patel on 41.

Kieswetter went to 51 when he was comprehensively bowled middle stump by slow left-armer Jadeja. Jonathan Trott (11) followed five balls later, bowled by off-spinner Ashwin by a delivery which slid past the outside of his bat.

Rain began to fall and the players left the field with England 95 for three, sufficient for victory under the Duckworth/Lewis method for deciding rained-out matches.

The Indians were back in the game but Bopara (40) and Tim Bresnan (28) took advantage of the slippery ball and wet outfield to add 60 for the seventh wicket and set up an ultimately comfortable victory.

However, Cook added that the team''s ultimate aim of winning the series with a clean sweep is still two matches away. The teams meet again at Lords on Sunday (September 11) and in Cardiff on September 16.
(ANI)