Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni did all he could with the willow but England still gatecrashed his party by three wickets, leaving a packed house made up of loyal fans more heartbroken than the home team dressing room, in his last match as leader of an Indian side.
England gave themselves a much-needed boost by beating the Dhoni-led India A side in their first warm-up match ahead of the limited overs series.
Ambati Rayudu top-scored with a fine century, while Kuldeep Yadav returned a five-wicket haul but Dhoni was the cynosure of all eyes as he bludgeoned his way to an unbeaten 68 off 40 balls, albeit in a losing cause.
England had enough in reserves to edge out India A and deny Dhoni what would have been a fitting win in his captaincy swansong.
Chinaman bowler Yadav sent England, who chased the home side’s challenging score of 304 for five, scurrying for cover but Sam Billings made 93 to push the tourists close to the victory target in the first of two practice games.
Although Billings departed when 15 runs were needed, England completed the win in the 49th over when Chris Woakes (11 not out) struck Mohit Sharma for successive fours to take England to 307 for 7.
Apart from Billings, who hit eight fours in his 85-ball innings before being dismissed by Hardik Pandya in the 47th over, openers Jason Roy (62), Alex Hales (40), Jos Buttler (46) and Liam Dawson (41) made important contributions.
Yadav was the pick of the home team bowlers with five for 60, but the others disappointed and the fielding was also below par on a good batting track at the Brabourne Stadium.
Asked to bat first, Rayudu played the sheet-anchor role for the home side before retiring to the pavilion after scoring exactly 100 to pave the way for Dhoni to entertain the big crowd.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, coming off an injury lay-off, and Yuvraj Singh, recalled to the ODI and T20 squads to play against the visitors, made attacking half centuries by making 63 and 56 respectively to warm up nicely for the battles ahead.
Dhoni finished the home team innings on a high note by smacking England’s Woakes for 24 runs in the final over, carting the fast bowler for two sixes and as many fours.
SCOREBOARD
India A innings (50 overs maximum)
Mandeep Singh b Willey 8
S Dhawan c †Buttler b Ball 63
AT Rayudu retired out 100
Yuvraj Singh c Rashid b Ball 56
MS Dhoni*† not out 68
SV Samson c Hales b Willey 0
HH Pandya not out 4
Extras 5
Total 304
England XI innings
JJ Roy c Sharma b Kuldeep Yadav 62
AD Hales c Samson b Kuldeep Yadav 40
SW Billings b Pandya 93
EJG Morgan* c Dhawan b Chahal 3
JC Buttler†c Sharma b Kuldeep Yadav 46
MM Ali lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 0
LA Dawson c & b Kuldeep Yadav 41
CR Woakes not out 11
AU Rashid not out 6
Extras 5
Total 307