Bell's ton helps England beat India in fifth ODI

England opener Ian Bell's unbeaten 113 from 143 balls helped his side to a consolation seven-wicket win, in the fifth and final ODI against India, in Dharamsala on Sunday.

Although England began the five-match series on a high in Rajkot, on January 11, they lost their way, by conceding the next three ODI's and handing the series to the hosts 3-2.

Bell, who struggled for the better-part of the series, was due a big score and he delivered by smashing 14-boundaries en-route to his second century against India and third overall.

He was not entirely secure at the crease, twice edging past his stumps early on and struggling to time the ball as the surface got slower. But he stuck around as England lost two wickets for 11 runs in 6.2 overs. Then after a diligent, restorative partnership with Joe Root, he began to look more imposing. He stepped out of his crease to hit R Ashwin for six and struck timely boundaries whenever the asking rate began to increase.

Bell's century was the ninth by an England batsman in ODIs against India in India. The last century was scored by Andrew Strauss in the 2011 World Cup game in Bangalore. Bell said that he was relieved to bat through the innings.

"As part of our game plan, we wanted one of our top-four there for the last ten overs. It was good to be there today, and as Cook has already said, the bowlers set the tone well and as the game went on it became easier to bat. So it was nice to be there and cash-in at the back end," he said.

"I've been guilty of getting lots of starts and not going on, so to be there not-out with a hundred is what I want going forward. I've enjoyed batting at the top of the order and with that comes the responsibility to bat through. I've certainly enjoyed today and hopefully I can kick-on as I want to."

Cook said though he was disappointed with the series loss, he was happy with his side's performance on a whole.

"There is always a bit of disappointment when you try and win a series and lose 3-2, but I thought the way the lads performed today was really good. It was a good toss to win but we still got to execute and our opening bowlers did a good job, when you get them 50 for four then you give yourself a good chance to win the game."