Close India 219 for 2 in 29.4 overs (Tendulkar 87*, Sehwag 82) beat England 218 for 7 in 39 overs (Knight 74) by 8 wickets
scorecard

A magnificent straight-driven six from Sachin Tendulkar provided the appropriate finishing touch as India cantered past England's 218 for 7 with ridiculous ease to win the weather-curtailed one-day match at Green Park in Kanpur by eight wickets, with the little matter of 56 deliveries to spare. The hosts now lead the six-match series 3-1.

England were never in the contest once Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag opened up with a fusillade of shots after a sticky start. England will look ruefully at the opening two overs, when both batsmen received the gift of life from the umpires. The English team had gone up in unison off the very first ball, as Tendulkar had a dart at one going down the leg side and the ball was caught by the stand-in wicketkeeper Marcus Trescothick. The umpire not only turned down the appeal but also called a wide as Darren Gough looked on in disbelief.

Then in Matthew Hoggard's opening over, Sehwag survived a good shout for leg-before. He never looked back, a superbly timed back-foot square-drive setting the scene for the carnage that followed.

Hoggard was carted over midwicket by both batsmen, and Gough wasn't spared either. Tendulkar played a couple of delicate tickles off his pads, but for the most part England's bowlers were bludgeoned into submission. By the time Sehwag departed, after hammering 82 from just 62 balls with 14 fours, the game was as good as over. India had raced to 134 from only 17.2 overs.

The torrent of runs continued unabated as Sourav Ganguly showed signs of a return to form with some spanking boundaries straight down the ground off Gough and Paul Collingwood. Gough got a measure of revenge when he rearranged Ganguly's stumps with an offbreak (179 for 2), but by then England were spitting into a gale.

Tendulkar, content to play second fiddle to Sehwag early on, opened out with some gorgeous shots as the target got closer, and with Dinesh Mongia also timing the ball magnificently, India administered the coup de grace with some aplomb. It was an innings that will have given Tendulkar enormous satisfaction, coming the day after the death of Mark Mascarenhas, his friend and business manager.

England had set off like prize greyhounds after Nasser Hussain won the toss and decided to bat. But some mid-innings madness and improved Indian bowling restricted them to 218. Ajit Agarkar was the main target - both Nick Knight and Trescothick treated him like a tin-can in a shooting gallery.

Both men were lucky not to pick out the fielders early on as the runs started to flow. Knight edged one from Agarkar between keeper and slip, while Trescothick had a thick edge off Javagal Srinath put down by the diving Ajay Ratra behind the stumps.

The introduction of spin, in the person of Harbhajan Singh, as early as the eighth over made not a jot of difference as Knight showed that he could play both the orthodox and reverse sweeps with panache. He greeted Anil Kumble with an immaculately timed reverse-sweep, but Kumble came back well to dismiss Trescothick for 18 in the same over. He gave Kumble the charge, and an ugly hoick went up a long way before coming down into Mongia's hands (71 for 1).

Knight and Andy Flintoff ensured there would be no let-up with some punishing strokeplay. Knight never allowed the spinners to settle, employing the sweep and the nudge to great effect. Flintoff spanked Agarkar back over his head for four, and then brought up the hundred with a massive straight six off Kumble. He chanced his arm once too often, though, and was caught by Tendulkar at deep extra cover for 18 after he failed to get to the pitch of a Kumble delivery (111 for 2).

Knight and Hussain kept the scoreboard ticking over until 20 minutes of mayhem rocked England back on their heels. First to go was Knight. After a splendid 74 from 82 balls, he reverse-swept a turning delivery from Harbhajan straight to Kumble at point (144 for 3). Hussain - who looked edgy throughout his innings of 15 - followed in lemming-like fashion, smashing a slower ball back at Harbhajan (151 for 4).

Michael Vaughan, England's batting hero at Cuttack, departed in pathetic fashion, comprehensively bowled by Ganguly for just 4 as he attempted a pull to cow corner (156 for 5). Collingwood (6) started with an elegant cover-drive off Sehwag, but then went the Vaughan route to give Ganguly a second wicket (166 for 6). Sadly for India, Ganguly - whose slow-mediums had worked a treat - had to go off a few minutes later with a groin strain.

Ben Hollioake and Graham Thorpe put on 31 for the seventh wicket in subdued fashion as India tightened the noose. Hollioake made 13 before giving Srinath some reward for a superb second spell. Deceived by the slower one, Hollioake mistimed a drive, which looped to Sehwag at deep mid-on (197 for 7).

A final flurry from Thorpe (36*) and Jeremy Snape allowed England to reach a total that they imagined would pose a question or two. They had reckoned without two little men who pack quite a punch. This contest was a knockout.

25 overs India 179 for 2 (Tendulkar 64*, Mongia 0*) need 40 more in 14 overs to beat England

India barely paused to reflect on the dismissal of Virender Sehwag before switching back into hyperdrive and racing towards what once looked a competitive England total. Sehwag had dominated an opening partnership of 134 from just 17.2 overs with Sachin Tendulkar, and was only 18 runs short of his century when he mistimed a drive off Paul Collingwood to Matthew Hoggard at mid-on. His punishing knock of 82 came from only 62 balls, and even though England looked mightily relieved to see the back of him, it was a case of putting up the defences long after the storm-troopers had blasted past.

Sehwag had got to his fifty from just 36 balls, pummelling Flintoff over midwicket for four. He followed up with a flick off the pads and a pull over square leg. Poor Flintoff couldn't even swear after his foul-mouthed exhibition at Chennai. When Jeremy Snape came on, Sehwag greeted him with a paddled scoop to fine leg for three and a powerful drive over mid-on.

After Sehwag's dismissal, Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly raced towards the target with a flurry of strokes. A Sachin single brought up 11,000 runs - and a standing ovation - and Ganguly got himself going with a punch to midwicket off a Snape full-toss.

Tendulkar brought up his fifty with a magnificently timed four to mid-on off Collingwood, and then watched as Ganguly gave Gough and Collingwood the fetch-that-from-the-sightscreen treatment. With only 40 required for victory, Ganguly (26) let his enthusiasm get the better of him. He gave himself too much room to have a blast at Gough and was clean bowled by a slower offbreak (179 for 2).

10 overs India 86 for 0 (Tendulkar 35*, Sehwag 47*) need 133 more in 29 overs to beat England

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag made Yorkshire pudding of England's new-ball attack as they set about making the target of 219 from 39 overs appear minuscule. After both men made shaky starts, the runs flowed with Nasser Hussain and his bowlers helpless in the face of a savage onslaught.

Tendulkar survived a vociferous appeal for caught behind off the first ball of the innings. As Gough and stand-in keeper Trescothick - and the slips - went up, the umpire shook his head, deciding that the ball flicked that pad. To add insult to injury he called the ball a wide. In the very next over, Matthew Hoggard was decidedly unlucky to have a leg-before shout against Sehwag turned down. Sehwag celebrated his reprieve with a magnificent back-foot cover-drive. Then Tendulkar gave the proceedings his stamp of class, square-driving Gough for four before smashing a slow offbreak down to the long-on fence.

Sehwag was keen to make the running, though, and he did just that with two spanking pulls through midwicket when Hoggard pitched short. Tendulkar replied with a gorgeous off-drive from Hoggard and a punched pull off a beleaguered Gough.

The introduction of Andrew Flintoff and Ben Hollioake did little to put the two little men off. Sehwag flicked Flintoff over midwicket before giving Hollioake some driving lessons. It didn't help England that Trescothick grassed an edge as Sehwag went to cut Hollioake down to third man. Just to rub it in, Sehwag sent the first delivery of Hollioake's next over screaming to the mid-off boundary. He then repeated the punishment, only this time the ball singed the grass as it raced away for four.

Playing second fiddle for a change, Tendulkar worked a Hollioake delivery down to fine leg before thumping Flintoff down to the ropes at mid-on. England need a breakthrough soon or the match will be all but over.

Break England 218 for 7 (Knight 74, Thorpe 36*)

After racing out of the traps like prize greyhounds, England committed mid-innings suicide before a late flurry allowed them to set India 219 for victory in the weather-curtailed one-day match at Green Park in Kanpur. With two hours and ten minutes lost to inclement weather, the match was reduced to a 39 overs-a-side affair.

It was a great toss for Nasser Hussain to win, with the pitch showing enough cracks to suggest that batting second could be fraught with danger. His opening batsmen took their time to fine-tune their sights, but once they did, the Indian attack was peppered like a tin-can in a shooting gallery.

Ajit Agarkar was the main target - both Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick went after him with relish. A fluent cover-drive from Knight set the tone, though both men were lucky not to pick out the fielders. Knight edged one from Agarkar between keeper and slip, while Trescothick saw a thick edge off Srinath put down by the diving Ajay Ratra behind the stumps.

The introduction of spin, in ther person of Harbhajan Singh, as early as the eighth over made not a jot of difference as Knight showed that he could play both the orthodox and reverse sweeps with panache. He greeted Anil Kumble with an immaculately timed reverse-sweep, but Kumble came back well to dismiss Trescothick for 18 in the same over. He gave Kumble the charge, and an ugly hoick went up a long way before coming down into Dinesh Mongia's hands (71 for 1).

Andy Flintoff and Knight ensured there would be no let-up with some punishing strokeplay. Knight never allowed the spinners to settle, employing the sweep and the nudge to great effect. Flintoff's approach was more belligerent. He spanked Agarkar back over his head for four, and then brought up the hundred with a massive straight six off Kumble. He chanced his arm once too often, though, and was caught by Tendulkar at deep extra cover for 18 after he failed to get to the pitch of a Kumble delivery (111 for 2).

Knight and Hussain kept the scoreboard ticking over until 20 minutes of mayhem rocked England back on their heels. First to go was Knight. After a splendid 74 from 82 balls, he reverse-swept a turning delivery from Harbhajan straight to Kumble at point (144 for 3). Hussain - who looked edgy throughout his innings of 15 - followed in lemming-like fashion, smashing a slower ball back at Harbhajan (151 for 4).

Michael Vaughan, England's batting hero at Cuttack, departed in pathetic fashion, comprehensively bowled by Ganguly for just 4 as he attempted a slog over cow corner (156 for 5). Paul Collingwood (6) started with an elegant cover-drive off Virender Sehwag, but then went the Vaughan route to give Ganguly a second wicket (166 for 6). Sadly for India, Ganguly had to go off a few minutes later with what appeared to be a groin strain.

Ben Hollioake and Graham Thorpe put on 31 for the seventh wicket in subdued fashion as India tightened the noose. Hollioake made 15 before giving Srinath some reward for a superb second spell. Deceived by the slower one, Hollioake mistimed a drive, which looped to Virender Sehwag at deep mid-on (197 for 7).

A final flurry from Thorpe and Jeremy Snape (9*) allowed England to reach a total that could pose a question or two of the Indians when they come out to bat.

Teams
England 1 Marcus Trescothick (wk), 2 Nick Knight, 3 Andrew Flintoff, 4 Nasser Hussain (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Michael Vaughan, 7 Paul Collingwood, 8 Ben Hollioake, 9 Jeremy Snape, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

India 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Dinesh Mongia, 5 Hemang Badani, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Javagal Srinath.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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