England captain Alastair Cook admitted his side were second best to a disciplined bowling display from India after falling to a six-wicket defeat in the third Royal London One-Day International at Trent Bridge.

A good performance with the ball from India's spinners outclassed the English batsmen, before chasing down a total of 227 with seven overs to spare. 

“We had a few soft dismissals and a few good balls,” he said. 

“Every time you tried to build a partnership you lost wickets and that keeps holding you back if you want to play aggressively.

“I don’t think anyone looked at the wicket this morning and thought it was going to turn as much as it did. It

“We didn’t play the spin very well, we didn’t in Cardiff either. They bowled very well, and they did get the ball to turn. Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja are very good spinners in one-day cricket. “ 

Alex Hales and Cook began the match excellently, the Nottinghamshire man making 42 in an 82-run partnership with the England captain. 

However, after losing both batsmen in quick succession, the innings slumped and Cook expressed his desire to see top order batsmen dominate the scores for his side.

“I thought that we got off to a very good start again today, everyone keeps talking about more power at the top but we’re getting good starts,” he said.

“It’s frustrating that we aren’t playing to the standards we should be.

“The problem is that 40 was our top score in the last match and 44 was today.

“We know how important big runs are at the top of the order one of the top four or five going on to get 100, or get 80, really sets the game up.

“You can build partnerships with that, and that’s what we’re missing at the moment.

“There are some good players there who aren’t showing it.”

This defeat to a strong Indian side is the latest in a difficult run of results for England in limited-overs cricket. These two consecutive defeats have seen England post below-par totals, and Cook has spoken of a lack of confidence in his side’s top order.

“The problem is confidence in the batting unit, that we haven’t scored runs in the last few games,” he said. 

“Form is a strange one, it wouldn’t take Morgan, for example, very long to get going and scoring eighties, that’s his game.

“The only thing we can do is not look at anyone else. It’s about the six batters at the top of the order to turn it around themselves.”