Statistical Highlights

** Limited over international cricket returned to Calcutta after a gap of 3 years and 7 months. During this period, 27 matches were played at home. The last match to be played here was the final of the Coca Cola tri-series between India and Kenya on 31-5-1998.

** The two teams were playing each other for the first time since the 1999 World Cup at Birmingham on 29th/30th May 1999. Since then India have played in 81 LOI matches, while England were involved in just 35 matches against other teams.

** England's last match against the home team in India was at Gwalior on 5-3-1993 when the latter won by 4 wickets, while the last occasion it played in India was against New Zealand at Ahmedabad during the 1996 World Cup on 14-2-1996. England had then lost the match by 11 runs.

** Ajay Ratra becomes the 140th player to represent India in LOIs. He also becomes the 17th player to keep wickets for India.

** Sourav Ganguly in his 182nd match since debut, was playing for the only his second international match at the Eden Gardens. He had made a 36 against Kenya on 31-5-1998 in his only other match here.

** For the first time in 52 matches, since 17-1-1999 against Australia at Sydney, the England side went in with two specialist spinners - left-armer Ashley Giles and off-spinner Jeremy Snape. Three years ago at Sydney it was Giles and off-spinner Robert Croft who played together.

** Playing in his 5th match Dinesh Mongia(71) registered his highest LOI score of his career. His previous highest score was the 37 he made against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on 27-6-2001.

** India's 281-8 was its highest at this venue bettering the 274-6 it made against West Indies on 5-11-1994. It was incidentally the second highest team score made at this venue after the 309 by Sri Lanka against Pakistan on 27-5-1997.

** Meanwhile, India just failed to better its highest ever score against England. Its highest still remains as the 282-5 (in 53 overs) made at Nottingham on 20-7-1990 in a 55-over match.

** However, India bettered its highest score against England at home obliterating its previous best of 267-6 (46.4 overs) at Gwalior on 5-3-1993.

** Nick Knight after registering six successive scores of 48, 50, 82*, 41, 49 & 80* from June to October 2001 - was out first-ball. It was his fourth duck in 66 matches.

** Marcus Trescothick's hundred in 80 balls, was the fastest by an English batsman in LOIs. The previous highest was the one made by another left-hander David Gower in 82 balls during his innings of 109 against New Zealand at Adelaide on 29-1-1983.

** Playing in his 27th match Trescothick, when on 117, became the 17th Englishman and 156th batsman in LOIs to reach 1000 career runs.

** Marcus Trescothick's 121 was the highest by a left-handed English batsman against India bettering the 90 made by John Edrich at Leeds on 13-7-1974, which incidentally was India's first ever LOI match. It was by far the highest score made by a left-handed batsman in India. The previous best was the unbeaten 53 by Neil Fairbrother at Jamshedpur on 1-3-1993.

** It was the first hundred by an English left-hander in the sub-continent. Graham Thorpe's 89 against Holland on 22-2-1996 at Peshawar was the previous highest.

** This was Trecothick's second LOI hundred of his career. His first hundred was the 137 against Pakistan at Lord's on 12-6-2001. Unfortunately for for the batsman his team lost both the matches, after England looked set to win both at Lord's and at the Eden Gardens respectively.

** Although Trescothick (121) missed the opportunity of recording the highest individual score at this venue (Srikkanth's 123 against Pakistan on 18-2-1987 remains the highest), his 121 was the highest by a visiting batsman bettering the unbeaten 107 by Desmond Haynes against Pakistan on 1-11-1989.

** For the first time India has won four matches in a row against England. Before this match India twice won at Sharjah in April 1999 and then the World Cup match in May 1999 at Birmingham. The only other occasion India won three in row against England was at Kanpur (in 1989), Leeds and Nottingham (in 1990).