We have been outplayed by Veeru: Pietersen

“We knew one thing that they had three seamers and they had almost finished their quota. So they had to bowl the spinners,” Dhoni said, explaining his gameplan.

“We had one Powerplay still left and the asking rate was quite down. We knew if we survive for a while, we can get our eyes in and rotate the strike,” said the Indian skipper. The job, however, was not as easy as it looked, he said. “Light was low, it was difficult to sight the ball. It was moist and was losing colour but once you are set you can rotate the strike,” he said.

Dhoni said the Indian pacers made a good come back in the match after their rather average first spells. “We didn’t get the best of starts from the new ball bowlers and in the middle I think the spinners did their job. In the second Powerplay, when the batsmen were set, I think Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant (Sharma) did a splendid job. They had restricted the England innings to 270 when they looked like getting 300,” he said.

Dhoni said Sehwag and Tendulkar gave India the great start and had Yuvraj been in form as well, India could have chased down even 300-plus targets.

“The kind of start that was needed was given by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. It was a pleasant sight to see Sehwag batting the way he does and Sachin rotating the strike and getting the odd boundaries. At the same time if Yuvraj gets going, you can expect 300-odd runs on the board.” Dhoni said it was great to see the top order firing but thanked his bowlers for the stellar show in the series.

“It’s a pleasure to see them bat but I think the most remarkable thing in the series has been our bowling, whether with the new ball or the old — at the start, middle or death,” he added.

His opposite number Kevin Pietersen said 270 was not a bad score but the dew made life difficult for his bowlers who could not defend the total.

“I thought 270 was very competitive. I can see now why Dhoni chose to bat, it was a bit of a nightmare dealing with the dew in the evening,” he said.

“But they won the toss, decided to field and we had to bat,” Pietersen said.

He felt after Yuvraj Singh tormented them in the first two matches, Sehwag had taken over the role of England nemesis.

“We have been outplayed again by Veeru, he is such a great player and it was a great knock. It was tough for the bowlers,” he said.

Man of the Match Sehwag was clearly unlucky on Thursday to fall victim to a poor leg before decision but the opener was not ready to complain.

“I have been in good form and wanted to score big here. I was unlucky not to get the 100 but I’m happy (to have played my part),” said the swashbuckling opener.

Sehwag, however, promised to make amends in Delhi which hosts the last game of the seven-match series. “Delhi is my home ground and I hope to get a hundred there,” he said.

A batsman who prefers to keep things simple, Sehwag said the dew made batting easy for him. “Batting was easy because the ball was wet. It means you know the ball would not swing or seam and you can play your shots. I know their attack and could guess where they would bowl to me. I took my time and waited for the bad balls to punish them,” Sehwag said.