London, Sep 12 (IANS): England captain Alastair Cook said that the tie was a fair result in the rain-affected fourth One-day International against India at the Lord's here Sunday.

The match was evenly poised when rain interrupted for the third time with England needing 11 runs to win off seven balls with two wickets in hand. But with the rain falling the Duckworth/Lewis method came into play and India were unlucky. England clinched the series with still a match left.

"It was touch and go towards the end, we ended up batting for D/L, being more defensive knocking off the singles, not sure when the rain was coming. Tie was a fair result," said Cook.

The England captain was all praise for Ravi Bopara, who hit a career best 96 and took his team to the threshold of a win. Bopara was jointly adjudged as Man of the Match with Suresh Raina.

"Great to see Bopara delivering on the big stage to get us a tie. We tried everything earlier but that partnership (between Dhoni and Raina) was fantastic. If we had kept them to 250, we could have got there comfortably. Possibly we missed (Jade) Dernbach. We will know on Stuart Broad in 48 hours," he said.

Bopara said it was not the ideal way to clinch the series.

"With the rain around, we did not know when to accelerate. Should I knock it for ones and twos, or go for the big shots, once (Graeme) Swann got out I thought we should really go for it towards the close. Last couple of games have been nice for me, long way to go ahead," he said.