Close India 281 for 8 (Mongia 71) beat England 259 all out (Trescothick 121) by 22 runs
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An incompetent umpiring decision and an even more incompetent batting collapse cost England a famous victory under the Calcutta lights. Set 282 to win, they were cruising at 224 for 4 in the 36th over when umpire Sharma ruled that Marcus Trescothick, who had played superbly for 121, was leg-before to a harmless delivery from Javagal Srinath that pitched - even to the naked eye - well outside leg stump. After that injustice, England simply panicked, surrendering one wicket after another with the sort of naivety that they must shake off if they are to stand any chance in next year's World Cup. It triggered a collapse of 6 for 35 in 49 balls, and India had got out of jail.

It was hard luck on Trescothick, who has now made four international centuries, each of them against a side from the subcontinent, and each of them in a losing cause. He had played out of his skin - and had shed most of it along the way, sweating like a sumo wrestler in a sauna as he hit the quickest one-day century in England's 337-match history. It took him just 80 balls - two better than David Gower's sublime hundred against New Zealand at Perth in 1982-83. But in the end, it wasn't enough.

England had lost an over for dawdling in the field and got off to a disastrous start in pursuit of a daunting total when Nick Knight was trapped lbw first ball by umpire Hariharan, sorry Srinath, to make it 1 for 1. Replays showed the ball pitched just outside leg stump, and England were already up against it.

Nasser Hussain and Trescothick, dropped on 2 by VVS Laxman at second slip off Srinath, struggled early on as the ball seamed and bounced, but their response was to hit a sequence of stinging boundaries. The fifty came up in the 10th over, and by the time Sourav Ganguly turned to Anil Kumble, England had smashed 40 in four overs. But Kumble struck with his second ball, winning an instant lbw decision from umpire Sharma with Hussain a long way down the wicket. Hussain had made 25 and England were 64 for 2.

It was now that Trescothick decided to go it alone. He slog-swept Harbhajan Singh for six, lifted Anil Kumble over long-on for six more in the next over, and then took three boundaries off Harbhajan - bottom-edged to fine leg, lifted over long-off and driven through extra cover. England's second fifty came up in just 36 balls, and Michael Vaughan had been little more than a spectator.

He should have stayed that way, but the ball after timing Kumble nicely over midwicket for four off his pads, he attempted a repeat and skyed to Agarkar at mid-off for 14 (123 for 3). Trescothick just kept on sweeping - fine, square, slog and reverse - and reached an astonishing hundred with yet another sweep for four, this time square off Sachin Tendulkar. Paul Collingwood kept him more-than-able company for a while and the pair brought up a fifty stand in 44 balls as England took bite-size chunks out of India's total with every passing over.

But Collingwood did a Flintoff and threw his wicket away, for 21, when his loose drive off Ganguly flew straight to Tendulkar at midwicket (184 for 4). England were forgetting that ones and twos were enough. Trescothick moved past 1000 runs in one-dayers and Andy Flintoff, after a sober start, hit Ganguly for six over long-off. But then came umpire Sharma's shocker to get rid of Trescothick. His 121 had taken just 109 balls, and although England still needed only 58 runs with time in hand, the tide had turned.

Flintoff was run out for 24 when he was rightly sent back by Jeremy Snape (231 for 6); Snape was pinned leg-before for 4 in the next over as he tried to sweep Harbhajan, and this time England coulnd't complain (233 for 7); James Foster was caught behind for 2 off Agarkar as he aimed a desperate drive (244 for 8); Darren Gough gave Agarkar a dolly caught-and-bowled for 0 (246 for 9); and Ashley Giles perished for 18 to a catch at deep mid-off by Ganguly off Agarkar. A crowd that had started to leave the stadium 45 minutes earlier was now beside itself with excitement.

India's innings was built on a dashing opening stand of 78 between Ganguly and Tendulkar, a mature and elegant 71 in 75 balls from Dinesh Mongia, and a quickfire 35 by Hemang Badani towards the end. At one stage, 300 looked on the cards, but Flintoff, the pick of the bowlers, toppled Tendulkar for 36 with one that angled in through the gate, and had Ganguly caught at square leg for 42 when he miscued a pull to Hussain (95 for 2). But Mongia repeatedly chipped the spinners over the infield to move comfortably past his previous international best of 37. And after he became the first of three wickets to fall for 10 runs in nine balls, Badani took up the baton.

There was time for one last controversy: India took so long to get through their overs that there were whispers of so many penalty runs being added to England's score that they just needed to hang around till the end. It would have been a hollow way to win. Then again, it would have made up for that Trescothick decision.

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