India finally found their winning touch as they relied on a brilliant all-round display to thrash England by an emphatic 127 runs in the second cricket one-dayer on Tuesday. India first posted a competitive 285, riding on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 72 and Ravindra Jadeja's 61, before the bowlers skittled out the visitors for a paltry 158 in just 36 overs to level the five-match series 1-1.

It was a convincing and morale-boosting victory for the Indians who have struggled of late even in home conditions, losing the ODI series to arch-rivals Pakistan and the Test series against England. The hosts did well in all departments of the game, though the batting of the top order continued to be a concern with Gautam Gambhir (8) and Ajinkya Rahane (4) failing to deliver while the form of Virat Kohli remained patchy though he scored 37 today.

It was Dhoni's 66-ball 72 and Jadeja's blistering unbeaten knock of 61 in just 37 balls which provided the late flourish to the Indian innings. Suresh Raina (55) and Yuvraj Singh (32), who was distinctly unlucky to be given LBW, were the other notable contributors. With the Nehru Stadium providing ample assistance to the bowlers in the second half, the Indians exploited the conditions to the hilt to bundle out the visitors with Kevin Pietersen being the top-scorer with a 58-ball 42.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/29), R Ashwin (3/39) and Jadeja (2/12) were the pick of the Indian bowlers to give the hosts a resounding victory in front of a capacity crowd. The two teams will now travel to Ranchi for the third one-dayer to be played on January 19.

scoreboard

INDIA:

AM Rahane b Finn 4

G Gambhir b Dernbach 8

V Kohli c Bell b Woakes 37

Yuvraj Singh lbw b Tredwell 32

S Raina b Finn 55

MS Dhoni c Root b Dernbach 72

R Jadeja not out 61

R Ashwin not out 1

EXTRAS: (lb 5, w 10) 15

TOTAL: (6 wickets; 50 overs) 285

FOW: 1-18, 2-18, 3-71, 4-119, 5-174, 6-270

BOWLING: S Finn 10-1-51-2, J Dernbach 9-0-73-2, C Woakes 9-0-60-1, S Patel 10-0-43-0, J Tredwell 10-0-48-1, J Root 2-0-5-0

ENGLAND:

A Cook lbw b Kumar 17

I Bell c Dhoni b Shami 1

K Pietersen b Kumar 42

J Root b Jadeja 36

E Morgan c Dhoni b Kumar 0

C Kieswetter c Raina b Ashwin 18

S Patel not out 30

C Woakes lbw b Jadeja 0

J Tredwell lbw b Ashwin 1

S Finnc Dhoni b Ashwin 0

J Dernbach run out 2

EXTRAS: (b 4, lb 3, w 4) 11

TOTAL: (all out; 36 overs) 158

FOW: 1-4, 2-58, 3-73, 4-73, 5-110, 6-132, 7-132, 8-135, 9-135, 10-158

BOWLING: B Kumar 10-2-29-3, Shami Ahmed 4-1-24-1, I Sharma 4-0-28-0, R Jadeja 7-1-12-2, Yuvraj Singh 4-0-19-0, R Ashwin 7-0-39-3