England captain Eoin Morgan took no pleasure from his first century in 18 months after his efforts failed to prevent India sealing the one-day series in Cuttack.

Morgan last reached three figures in June 2015 but he barely acknowledged his dogged 102 in 81 balls as his side fell 15 runs short of a huge target to go 2-0 behind in the three-match contest.

After 706 runs in the opening match at Pune, this was an even grimmer day to be a bowler as mighty hundreds from Yuvraj Singh (150) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (134) powered India to 381 and England responded with 366 for eight, their highest-ever second-innings total.

Asked if his personal contribution took some of the sting out of defeat, Morgan said: “No, it doesn't work like that at all. It actually works the opposite way.

“When you lose there's absolutely no satisfaction at all. It's a pretty disappointing day. You're captain, you're a professional cricketer and you're playing for your country. You want to perform, you have to perform, people want you to do it all the time. It's never going to happen.”

Morgan did suggest England's batting could have been even better than it was but once again the bulk of the inquest will be spent picking over the bowlers' bones.

They made one change here, England swapping Adil Rashid's leg spin with Liam Plunkett's height and pace only for the latter to go at more than nine an over.

Jake Ball and Ben Stokes fared little better, David Willey was again shielded from the 'death' overs and only Chris Woakes, with four for 60, really held his end.

It doesn't work like that at all. It actually works the opposite way. Eoin Morgan

“We weren't at our best with the ball. We didn't produce our best performance - or anywhere near our best performance - this game or last which is disappointing,” reflected Morgan.

“When you don't execute your plans you're back-tracking a bit and chasing your tail. When a bowler doesn't get it right on the day, which can happen, you try different things and when you're trying different things to two guys who are really in, they can really hurt you.

“Chasing 380 we had an incredible amount of belief in the changing room and we believed we could chase it down. We weren't that far off and I don't think we batted that well.”



As for Rashid, there was a suggestion that he has some soul-searching to do after losing his way towards the end of a gruelling few months on the sub-continent.

“It's a chance for him to reflect on the winter as a whole, and figure out what he's learned...what he can use and what he can't use in the future,” said Morgan.

The fans in Barabati Stadium did not see Virat Kohli at his domineering best, thanks to Woakes, but did witness vintage knocks from a pair of 2011 World Cup winners in Yuvraj and Dhoni.

The former last scored a century in that tournament and has since come back from cancer and four years in the selection wilderness.

“I wanted to prove a point to myself, that I could still play international cricket,” said Yuvraj. “I came back after recovering from cancer and had to work on my fitness really hard. There was a time when I had to think whether to continue or not. I feel great to get a hundred, it's been a while. So, never give up.”