Close England 271 for 5 (Knight 105) beat India 269 for 8 (Ganguly 74, Giles 5-57) by two runs
scorecard

A game that had more twists and turns than a trashy whodunnit finally went England's way when Ajit Agarkar failed to hit Darren Gough's final ball for the four that would have tied the scores. If there had been any rain in the air, someone would surely have chewed through his umbrella handle, but in the end the sunny smiles were all England's. They now go to Mumbai with a chance of squaring the series, which would be a real triumph.

In truth, India blew it. Cruising at 211 for 3 in pursuit of 272, they folded against Ashley Giles, who recovered from a first-spell mauling by Sourav Ganguly to claim five wickets in 19 balls as India collapsed like, well, like England. It all meant that England didn't waste the batting of Nick Knight, who hit an unruffled 105, and Andy Flintoff, who biffed a muscular 52 in 39 balls.

But how close they came. Time and again the pendulum swung. England were cock-a-hoop after getting rid of Sachin Tendulkar, caught behind off Andy Caddick for 18 (39 for 1), and Virender Sehwag, caught at slip by Knight off Gough for a blistering 42, with just 68 runs on the board. And when Dinesh Mongia edged a cut off Flintoff to James Foster to fall for 20 (100 for 3), England were well in charge.

But Ganguly chose the moment to play his best innings of the series. Badly missed by Foster early on when he should have been stumped by yards, he converted a slow start into a heady rush, lifting Giles for three big legside sixes in three overs. The third six brought up his 50, and with Mohammad Kaif keeping a cool head at the other end, India chomped chunks out of the England total.

When Kaif tonked Gough over midwicket for four, the 100 stand was up and it had taken just 95 balls. The spectators who had drifted out of the ground after the dismissal of Sehwag were suddenly clamouring to get back in. And England's gloom deepened when Michael Vaughan, who had got through six unpunished overs for 29 with his friendly offspin, spilled a sitter at extra cover when Kaif had 42.

Then came another turning-point. Nasser Hussain bravely reintroduced Giles, whose figures were an X-rated 4-0-32-0. With India needing only to nudge the ones and twos, Ganguly couldn't resist another yahoo but this time picked out the substitute Owais Shah at long-off. Ganguly was out for 74 and it was 211 for 4.

Three balls later Kaif, on 46, flicked Giles to Graham Thorpe at short midwicket (212 for 5) and India suddenly had two new batsmen at the crease. Hemang Badani chipped a return catch to Giles to depart, head bowed, for 2 (219 for 6), and the collapse extended to 4 for 16 when Ajay Ratra, on the charge, was stumped for 10 (227 for 7).

Giles was buzzing now, and with Hussain geeing up his fielders, England had ripped the initiative from India's grasp. Anil Kumble was bowled for 2 by Giles as he hoicked across the line in a panic (239 for 8), and the game looked over.

Agarkar, though, had other ideas. He coolly lifted Paul Collingwood over extra cover, then crashed Gough down the ground, where Caddick let the ball slip under his body for four more. Seventeen were needed off two overs, and Agarkar nudged Giles cheekily to the third-man boundary to reduce the equation to nine from six balls.

Two nations bit their nails. Four singles came from the first five balls, which meant Agarkar could win it with a six; four would be enough for a tie and a series win. But his squeezed drive was cut off on the deep-point boundary by Giles, and the batsmen could take only two. Agarkar's had been a brave effort, but it was England who now celebrated.

If Giles had won it with the ball, Knight had held things together with a superb century, only his fourth in ODIs. He began cautiously, the scalpel to Marcus Trescothick's battering-ram. By the time Trescothick slapped Agarkar to Sarandeep Singh at mid-off he had made 35 in 40 balls (51 for 1) and England were on their way.

Hussain flirted with danger, surviving a convincing appeal for a catch behind the wicket off Tendulkar when he had 31, but kept the scoreboard ticking over before he tried to nudge Tendulkar to third man and was caught behind for 49 (168 for 2). Knight, one reverse-sweep for four already under his belt, now sat back and enjoyed the Freddie Flintoff show.

Flintoff took 13 off a Tendulkar over, and biff by biff exorcised the demons that had haunted him all round India. The 50 partnership took just 44 balls, and soon after, amid the mayhem, Knight tickled the single that brought him a workmanlike century.

But when he was run out for 105 (248 for 3), the innings subsided. Flintoff blacksmithed Srinath one-handed to Kaif at long-off (254 for 4), and Thorpe was bowled by Agarkar for a strangely passive 2 (260 for 5). Vaughan and Collingwood brought the total up to par on a flat wicket, and England then braced themselves for another Tendulkar-Sehwag special.

After five overs it was 39 for 0, but then Caddick struck and the game turned. How many times it would turn again, no-one could have predicted. If one-day cricket is boring, long live one-day cricket.

Teams
England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Nick Knight, 3 Nasser Hussain (capt), 4 Andrew Flintoff, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Michael Vaughan, 7 Paul Collingwood, 8 James Foster (wk), 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Andrew Caddick.

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 Sarandeep Singh, 11 Javagal Srinath.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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