Close India 205 for 7 (Tendulkar 75, Mongia 56, Innes 3-35) beat Sussex 203 for 8 (Goodwin 49, Nehra 4-27) by 3 wickets Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 75, scored off just 82 balls, guided India to a three-wicket win in their first tour match, against Sussex at Hove. Chasing 204 for victory, India started solidly, but then slid from 126 for 2 to 193 for 7, before Tendulkar saw them through.

Earlier, Ashish Nehra was India's star performer with the ball, grabbing 4 for 27 from 10 overs, as Sussex were restricted to 203 for 8 in 50 overs. Murray Goodwin top-scored with 49, while opener Richard Montgomerie made 44 and James Carpenter an unbeaten 43.

India started their run-chase confidently, with Virender Sehwag and Dinesh Mongia putting on 60 for the first wicket before Sehwag was caught-and-bowled by Kevin Innes for a 31-ball 26. Mohammad Kaif fell cheaply, but Tendulkar and Mongia got together for a 57-run third-wicket partnership which put India well in control. With Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh to follow, India should have coasted home.

The slide began when Mongia was caught one-handed by Carpenter at short extra cover off medium-pacer Will House for 56 (126 for 3). Eighteen runs later, Dravid was bowled by House for 6. Offspinner Mark Davis then joined in, having Yuvraj caught-and-bowled for 4 (155 for 5). The middle order continued to cave in, as Innes bowled Laxman for 18 (185 for 6) and trapped Ajit Agarkar in front for 5 (193 for 7).

Tendulkar started cautiously, but soon stepped it up, reaching his half-century off just 54 balls. His innings included four fours and two sixes, a pull over midwicket off House and straight-drive off Davis.

As he had done in the West Indies, Tendulkar lent a calming presence to India's middle order. Since moving down the order to No. 4, he has scored 174 runs in three matches and has been dismissed just once. More importantly, India have won all three games. It's early days yet, but the move clearly seems to be working.

Teams
Sussex 1 Michael Yardy, 2 Richard Montgomerie, 3 Murray Goodwin, 4 James Carpenter, 5 Bas Zuiderent, 6 Will House, 7 Tim Ambrose, 8 Kevin Innes, 9 Mark Davis, 10 Billy Taylor, 11 Jason Lewry

India 1 Dinesh Mongia, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Mohammad Kaif, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 VVS Laxman, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 Ashish Nehra

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