Match 6, Mumbai
Sunday, February 3, 2002

I am absolutely knackered. We've finished this series on a roll, and I am very, very pleased with my team, but to be honest I would like to lock my bat away and not look at another cricket pitch for a good two months! Three-all is a great result and due reward for all our hard work this series, but I still maintain that six matches is too much. We get on a plane in an hour's time, for a two-day flight to New Zealand, so it's the usual chaotic scenes at the moment. Hopefully we'll get a moment or two when everything we've achieved can sink in properly.

Though we won today, we messed up to be honest. Tresco and I got us off to a flyer, and at 150 for 3 in 25 overs, we should have been looking for at least 300. The key thing was not to panic in those middle overs when the scoring rate dropped off, but when Harbhajan got into the groove the wheels came off. He's done it to the Aussies as well, so it came as no surprise, but it is fair to say we have a bit of a problem against mystery spinners - the Harbhajans, the Saqlains, the Muralis - who bowl that ball that turns the other way. It's less of a problem in Tests when we don't have to force the rate, but in one-day games, it is definitely something to work on.

But Freddie [Flintoff] had his sensible head on today, and that was his best knock yet - better even than his fifty in the last match. On that occasion all he had to do was come in and biff it, which has never been a problem for him! Today, he had to think about his runs and nurdle the ball around. It was a very mature innings.

I don't think 210 would have been defendable, but Goughie added some valuable runs at the end, and with 250 on the board it was definitely game on. Before we went out to bowl, I told the guys that if we silenced the crowd that would be half the battle, and it was an amazing atmosphere when Goughie got rid of Tendulkar. Goughie was back at his best with the new ball today, because there was more bounce in the pitch - because of his height he only tends to suffer when the bounce is lower and he skids on a bit.

Tempers were getting a little frayed towards the end - though I don't know quite what got under Harbhajan's skin. He got all excited, claiming that we'd tried to trip him up on a quick single, though that was the last thing on our minds - we were just trying to run him out! I just suggested to him that, frankly, he'd do better to concentrate on his own game.

We had a few scares with the catching. Michael [Vaughan] bowled a great spell, especially to the left-handers, but he accepts he needs to work a bit in the field. He tends to catch the blinders and drop the easy ones, but I've got no problem with it so long as he's giving his all. These things happen.

But the last word has to go to Freddie ... I hope big Fred is not going to start a trend with his celebration at the end - fortunately for us all he's lost a bit of timber in recent weeks, otherwise it could have been a frightening sight! Obviously with all that hard work in the gym he reckoned it was time to show the world his new-found pecs!

But I can fully understand it - the boys were on a high. Only an hour earlier we had been losing - series and all - in front of 50,000 noisy fans. It was a great moment for the lads at the end - everyone loves Fred and we all tore after him when he took that final wicket. It's been a fantastic morale throughout this tour, and this victory makes everything worthwhile.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller. His thoughts appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each international that England play.

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