It was the ultimate vindication of Nasser Hussain's tactics. Sachin Tendulkar successfully castrated - stumped for the first time in 143 innings of his Test career. Neutered by a continuous stream of left-arm over into the rough, he lost his head and yowled at one of Ashley Giles's specials - wide as a bridge, boring as a bus timetable. The one technical hitch was that he had made 90 (average for the series: nearly 77). But 90 isn't 190, I suppose. If Giles's bowling is legitimate, then Hussain is simply being astute - doing what he can with limited resources and successfully turning a jet engine into a routemaster. But the cheap tactics leave a nasty taste. Spectators became one-eyed today, as every second over was a nonentity. Ball padded away, ball padded away ... the pulse rate plummeted with every passing delivery.

And so did sympathy for England, who have knuckled down and earned a lot of respect in India over the last five weeks. Hussain has been a brilliant diplomat, and his team, after the debacle of Mohali, have slowly seeped into the Indian consciousness. Andrew Flintoff has become a mini heart-throb, Mark Rampakash's Gujarati wife has made the Indian papers. But this ... well, it isn't the best PR in the world - especially when the last team to tour India were the Australians. You still desperately wanted England to win, but in a red-faced kind of way. Cheering inside when Virender Sehwag reverse-swept Giles from outside leg stump backward of point for four, and choking on your nationality when Tendulkar was out. It was as embarrassing as it was clever.

Matthew Hoggard was the revitalising change to the attack. He replaced Andy Flintoff after five mind-numbingly boring overs first thing in the morning. The tone changed immediately. He polished the ball so it shone as vigorously as his gleaming skull, and with his fifth delivery waved goodbye to Rahul Dravid. Two balls into his next over, Sourav Ganguly had gone too - swinging at one that was pitched up and moved away just enough to catch the edge. Orthodox field, ball on the stumps, threatening, attacking, thrilling. How much more satisfying for the bowler, how much more fun for the spectator.

Tanya Aldred, our assistant editor, has been covering the whole tour for Wisden.com.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd