England storm to clean sweep

England 132 for 3 (Newton 41) beat India 131 by seven wickets
Scorecard

Demolition jobs don't come much sleeker. England absolutely annihilated India to ensure a 4-0 cleansweep against India, putting the polish on Charlotte Edwards' first home series in charge.

A clinical bowling job, backed up by lightning fielding, dismissed India for a gibbering 131 and then England knocked off the runs for three wickets, with Laura Newton (41) leading the charge.

Three quick wickets from the opening strike pairing of Laura Marsh and Jenny Gunn had India wobbling - Gunn's ball nipping back to dismiss Mithali Raj the highlight of that trio - and they never recovered from there as England's bowlers ran rampage.

A hatful of bowlers helped themselves to some very tidy figures indeed from their ten overs: Gunn grabbed 2 for 15, Isa Guha 3 for 22 and Holly Colvin 2 for 14. They pursued good lines and lengths, with not too many four-balls in there. In truth, they weren't really challenged by the batsmen, but they managed to keep up the aggression. It was just a shame there weren't more people to watch; another paltry crowd witnessed the rout at The Rose Bowl.

After India surrendered the series yesterday their captain Raj vowed that India would fight today. True, their fielding was sharper than it has been, and their bowling as nagging as ever - especially the hostile opening partnership of Jhulan Goswami and Amita Sharma - but they simply didn't get enough runs on the board. Only Anjum Chopra, with 44, could offer any resistance for India.

For England, though, the positives just keep on coming. There's a super-charged atmosphere to the England camp at the moment, with an injection of youth in the shape of 17-year-old Sarah Taylor to add to 16-year-old Holly Colvin: indeed, the team's average age is just 23. Any thoughts that they would miss Clare Connor or Arran Brindle have been brushed aside; this team are already building towards the World Cup in Australia in 2009.

Taylor's smart keeping, allied to her cracking batting of yesterday, could now have a knock-on effect on the career of her idol and room-mate Jane Smit, who was omitted today and missed the opener at Lord's. Taylor says that Smit is still the No 1 keeper, but the young pretender was so confident today. "Sarah looks the part," cooed Connor, who was appearing as a commentator on Sky and who has marshalled her progress. "She's composed, great hands - very, very natural." And indeed she is, both with the bat and today with the gloves.

It wasn't just Taylor who looked the part; the whole team did. This resounding series success - which reversed the away defeat over the winter - has answered the critics, and then some.