England captain Alastair Cook paid tribute to Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina after the pair guided India to a five-wicket victory in the fourth one-day international at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here yesterday. <img alt="Rohit Sharma" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jan/rohit.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 692px;" /> Rohit Sharma in full flow in Mohali yesterday After opening batsman Sharma (83) had given the hosts a nice springboard, Raina ensured they took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with a marvellous unbeaten 89 off 79 balls to guide India past England&rsquo;s 257 for five. Raina had a 68-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Sharma &mdash; one Cook felt changed the game in India&rsquo;s favour.u00a0&ldquo;I think that partnership between Raina and Rohit Sharma really (changed the game). When he (Raina) came in the momentum changed very quickly and we just tried to stop the scoring,&rdquo; Cook said on Sky Sports 1. <img alt="Alastair Cook" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jan/cook_3.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 560px;" /> Alastair Cook &ldquo;But I thought we put on a good performance today, the conditions weren&rsquo;t quite in our favour and to get it so close I thought we played quite well,&rdquo; he added. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes his bowlers laid the platform for yesterday&rsquo;s victory &mdash; in spite of them conceding 100 runs in the final 10 overs. &ldquo;It was a very good performance. We were right on the spot with the new ball, which I feel is always important,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of sides look to save wickets in the first 10 overs because all of them know from 36 to 40 overs they can have a second powerplay and then afterwards if they have wickets in hand they can really score big runs.&rdquo; &lsquo;Most gifted cricketer&rsquo; The recalled Sharma, who came in for Ajinkya Rahane, made a significant dent in England&rsquo;s total and proved why he is highly thought of in India. <img alt="Suresh Raina" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jan/raina_1.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 330px;" /> Suresh Raina An excellent 83, which only ended when he was given out to a dubious lbw decision, was just reward for the faith shown in him yesterday. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the most gifted cricketers that we have seen. Unfortunately he has not done really well with the opportunities he has got,&rdquo; Dhoni added. &ldquo;We had a chat about him opening the innings at the start of the series and he was very glad to accept it. I think it was a very good performance by him.&rdquo;u00a0

England skipper hails Indian duo, saying their 68-run stand changed the course of the game to help hosts clinch series

Cook praises Rohit, Raina

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Cook praises Rohit, Raina

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