Close England (170 and 173 for 7, Hussain 59) beat India A (233 for 9 dec and 109, White 5-31) by 3 wickets
Scorecard

Whatever the political shenanigans, England will fly to Mohali powered by the kiss of a win against India A. It was a kiss of the gentle pink of Jaipur but with a kick of fiery Dalmiya red as tempers flared slightly in the sun and things got close in the final overs.

There were wickets for Craig White, more runs for Nasser Hussain, chants from the newly-arrived Barmy Army and an oblivious dog pottering across the pitch. But the man of the day was Andy Flintoff, who only arrived in India five days ago, but who already has the crowd chanting his name.

He had taken three wickets in the morning session when he came to join Hussain at 109 for 3. Clad in his Lancashire helmet, he carried on one shoulder the memory of the first innings when he had flashed and swiped his way to a fat zero, and on the other the memory of booting every ball bowled to him in the nets into the dusty stratosphere.

He played and missed at his first ball, missed the second, which skidded through, and attempted to hook the third to the boundary. He wandered down the pitch but couldn't quite face eye-contact with Hussain who stood with his arm on his hip at the other end.

But that was just a scare. Soon Flintoff was off, driving Sunil Joshi for four twice in one over, either side of the stumps, and then hitting him straight back over his head for six. The outfield, which had been as slow as a deep-pile carpet when anyone else was batting, had suddenly turned into a skating rink.

It looked like a cakewalk but the unlikely figure of Gautam Gambhir, who bowls occasional legbreaks, made a double breakthrough. Hussain, who can't stop scoring runs on this tour, had made yet another 50 when he was stumped charging Gambir during his first over (151 for 4). Then White hit a gentle full-toss straight back into Gambhir's waiting hands (157 for 5). When Flintoff pushed forward at Sunil Joshi and was caught at first slip by Gagan Khoda for 40 with eight runs still needed, nerves were jangling, especially as Michael Vaughan was suffering from the Jaipur gyps. But Ashley Giles managed to remember which way up to hold a bat, and took England home.

In the morning session, a fairy-tale time for seamers in this match, the ball with the golden hue on this occasion went to White and Flintoff as India A lost six for 31 in 12.1 overs.

The fans were still settling into their comfortable positions perched on the orange walls of the stadium, when Flintoff struck with his first ball in the second over of the day. Yere Goud flicked sleepily at a loosener and was caught by James Foster for a marathon 13 from 80 balls (77 for 4).

Rashmi Parida tried to pull White in the next over, got a top edge and was caught for 13 by a very casual Hussain at slip, who had time to lift one hand to shield his eye from the sun (86 for 5). Next ball Ajay Ratra's off stump disappeared towards the hills as one kept low (86 for 6). Ratra was out for 0 and India A had lost three wickets in 12 balls.

There was no hat-trick for White, but a war medal, when he rapped Reetinder Sodhi on the right hand with a stinger and Sodhi retired hurt on 0 with a throbbing finger and the score on 87.

Abhijit Kale and Sunil Joshi pottered about for a stand of 15 until Kale drove at Flintoff and was well caught by an elastic Mark Butcher at second slip (102 for 7). Joshi was surprised by some extra bounce, waved half-heartedly and this time Marcus Trescothick was the man with the bucket hands (105 for 8). Joshi made 7.

Iqbal Siddiqui attempted to celebrate his selection for the Test team – the only chance he might have – with a celebration slog at Richard Johnson but it went only to Foster.

Siddiqui's real fun was to come later with some eyebrow-raising exchanges with Hussain – who temporarily lost his famous Indian diplomatic cool.

Hussain hooked the ball to long leg where Siddiqui reached for the ball with his finger-tips and parried it down to avoid tipping the ball over the boundary. He then claimed the catch. Hussain, unimpressed, hovered in exasperation as the umpire seemed to give him out, mouthing a few words until the square-leg umpire eventually waved him back. A few eyeballings followed over 22 yards as India A exercised their vocal chords.

But it was all small beer to whatever cultural insults are being exchanged by the administrators. What Hussain will carry with him is the win – even if he is on the plane home on Monday.

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

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