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Joe Root's century helps England to a consolatory win

Joe Root celebrates his second ODI ton Getty Images

Joe Root's second ODI century helped England beat India in the fifth and final ODI by a comfortable 41-run margin in Leeds on Friday.

England's batsmen were in trouble early on after MS Dhoni put them in to bat at the toss. Opener Alex Hales and in-form Moeen Ali fell in the first seven overs, before Root and captain Alastair Cook dropped anchor and began repairing the innings. The duo added 52 runs for the third wicket before Cook was dismissed for 46.

India's spinners R Ashwin, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja troubled England's batsmen once again, like they have done throughout the ODI series.

A normally-aggressive Eoin Morgan struggled against Ashwin. The left-hander scored just two runs off 19 balls bowled by Ashwin before being stumped to leave England at 117 for 4 after 29 overs.

His exit brought Jos Buttler to the crease. Buttler and Root put on an aggressive-century stand. The wicket-keeper batsman smashed five fours and two sixes in his 49-run display.

Buttler's departure in the 43rd over didn't affect Root, who was batting majestically at the other end. He clubbed Jadeja for two sixes and a four in the 45th over to reach three figures.

The late fireworks helped the hosts post a formidable 294 in their 50 overs.

India's batsmen stuttered at the start of their innings as James Anderson struck with the third ball of the innings to dismiss an in-form Ajinkya Rahane for a duck.

Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli showed glimpses of form but fell shortly after. India struggled at 49 for 3 in the 14th over.

India's middle order, comprising Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayadu and MS Dhoni, managed just 100 runs between them. Jadeja's 87 from 68 balls was the only stand-out performance of the innings. But his departure, in the 48th over, signalled an end to India's chances of a win.

"Great to play at your home ground, the crowd have been exceptional and good to get a win. Tough to start with, then the conditions got a bit easier, good to take it on. I tried not to think too much and play on instinct. We knew it would spin, spoke to the guys who'd played county one-day cricket here, nice to see what we worked on go well, that's a positive. I enjoy playing with Jos and the way he played kick-started the back end of our innings," Root said.