India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the winning trophy at the end of the fifth and final day of the second Test between India and England in Mohali, India yesterday. India clinched the two-Test series 1-0. - AP

MOHALI, India (AP)

India clinched the two-Test series 1-0 against England yesterday after Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh batted the tourists out of the contest on the last day of the second match.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni belatedly declared at 251 for seven when Gambhir was dismissed for 97, leaving England an almost impossible target of 403 in less than two sessions.

Gambhir fell three runs short of becoming only the fourth Indian batsman to score centuries in both innings.

England, who lost the opening match by six wickets at Chennai, made 64-1 as the game meandered to a draw.

Opener Alastair Cook (10) was the only Englishman out in the second innings, edging Ishant Sharma to V.V.S. Laxman at slip.

Andrew Strauss remained unbeaten on 21 and Ian Bell was not out 24 at stumps.

Dhoni's four-match winning sequence as captain was broken by the draw, but the series victory appeared to be adequate reward for his team.

The series was almost cancelled in the wake of last month's terror attacks in Mumbai which killed 164 people. The English abandoned the last two games of the limited-overs series and flew home after the attacks.

England only agreed to return for the two Tests after its security advisers gave a comprehensive assessment and the Tests were moved to venues that the tourists wanted.

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After an entertaining six-wicket win at Chennai, Dhoni seemed more content to win the series than push for another win in Mohali that lifted India to the No.2 spot - behind Australia - in the ICC Test rankings.

"The series featured good quality cricket and our players took responsibility to produce some fine performances," Dhoni said. "The series win was an exemplary team effort. When in a tough situation, there was always someone standing up and saying he'll take the team through."

Dhoni said Gambhir and Yuvraj were both unfortunate not to score a century.

"From the team's point of view, we felt it was important that they post their hundreds," Dhoni said, explaining why he delayed the declaration after lunch.

Gambhir, who scored 179 in India's first innings of 453, shared a high-tempo, 153-run stand for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj, who was run out for 86.

India had more than enough to make the match secure at the lunch interval, but Dhoni gave Gambhir more time to chase the milestone. The declaration came half an hour after lunch when Gambhir fell to an outstanding catch by Bell at point off spin bowler Graeme Swann (1-49).

Gambhir hit six boundaries from 229 deliveries and became India's top run-scorer in a single Test match against England when he reached 78.

His 276 in this Test surpassed Vinoo Mankad's record of 256 in the two innings at Lord's in 1952.

He came close to joining Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid as the only Indian batsmen who have scored centuries in each innings of a Test match. Gavaskar did so three times and Dravid on two occasions.