Incredible, stunning, sensational, miraculous, perfect: the superlatives were out after India's unforgettable victory over England in the NatWest Series final at Lord's. As well as successfully chasing 326, the second-highest total to win any one-day international batting second, India ended their miserable run of nine consecutive final defeats. It was heady stuff indeed.

Vic Marks in The Observer, described it as a "stunning game of cricket ... which must have driven both sets of captains and coaches demented". "This India side", Marks said, "do not know when they are beaten [and possess] a steel and an athleticism that was often absent from their predecessors." For England, however, it was "a numbing defeat. If you are not safe when you get to 325 ..."

And this was a one-day final that really meant something. Scyld Berry, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, noted that: "Not many one-day matches survive in the memory any longer than overnight, but this one will last for a long time."

Stephen Brenkley in The Independent on Sunday agreed: "Those who presumed that for India this might have been just another one-day game on their non-stop world tour – only Bob Dylan plays more gigs – should have witnessed their delighted players cavort through the Long Room and on to the ground."

It was generally agreed that the match has been won by India, not lost by England. Brenkley said: "This was by no stretch of the imagination a case of England squandering their score, which was always formidable but never impregnable."

Then there was Nasser Hussain's spiky, helmet-waving, finger-pointing celebration of his first one-day century. His ire had been directed at the press-box: now came their right to reply.

Marks said simply, "I think he was trying to tell us something." In the Sunday Telegraph, Mike Atherton said it was "an over-reaction". And Brenkley spoke of "ill-becoming gestures". Hussain's innings had not proved anything, he said, especially as England has lost: "It fell short of being a masterpiece. If it was to be hidden away and found in a storeroom in 40 years' time it would probably not fetch £50million at auction."

A day after he had been awarded an OBE, Berry praised Hussain for an "Outstanding Batting Effort" after a sticky start. At first, he said, "the ardour, the zeal to succeed, was almost painful to watch, like a baby determined to walk before his toddling time".

With India 146 for 5 in the 26th over, England had looked good for victory, but then came what Brenkley described as a "lustrous, fearless exhibition" of batting from Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. Atherton said their partnership represented "the most defiant Indian gestures since Gandhi's march for salt in the 1930s".

Lost in the maelstrom was another thumping innings from Marcus Trescothick, described as "a modern marvel" by Marks. Atherton agreed: "People can talk of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gilchrist, but Trescothick is playing as well as anybody in international cricket today". It's hard to believe that two years ago he was just coming into the England side.

Trescothick himself, writing in the Mail on Sunday, assured the nation that the team was "absolutely gutted by the defeat". He added that "I couldn't help but feel a sense of desolation ... It is probably the best one-day ton I've scored."

In India, the mood was one of delirium. The Hindustan Times noted that the victory would always be special "because it was not achieved by the success of the seniors ... Sachin Tendulkar again failed when it mattered most".

The final word, however, has to go to the Sunday Mirror, who castigated England for falling apart and allowing "India's tailend rookies to smash their way to a sensational victory". If Yuvraj and Kaif are tailenders, heaven help England when they bowl to the real batsmen in the Test series.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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