England hand India first defeat

England vs. India
Game Eight
The Oval
Scorecard

Ronnie Irani was the difference between the two sides today. The England all-rounder scored a brisk half-century and came back to tear through the rich Indian batting with his maiden five-wicket haul as England won game eight of the NatWest Tri-Series by 64 runs.

Chasing 230 for a win, India were dismissed for 165 in the 30th over.

Incessant rains reduced the match at the Oval to a 32-over-a-side affair, with the Indians leaving out their star player, Rahul Dravid - out to a stiff thigh muscle. He was replaced by Ajay Ratra, who had his first chance to keep wickets in the series, while VVS Laxman traded places with Dinesh Mongia in the final eleven.

England reinstated seamer Matthew Hoggard for off-spinner Jeremy Snape.

And though it may seem that victory had no bearing on the tournament, India may have just given the England campaign a fillip for Sunday's final. Whether the Indian team had peaked too soon or is just clearing its throat for the final recital will be answered at Lord's.

England innings

Despite the fact that India bowled 95 dot balls in a 32 over game, England used the remaining 97 balls to muster 229 runs and set India an intimidating target.

The Indian seamers got the England innings off to a flier, sending down an assortment of sundries while struggling to tame the swing. Left-armer Ashish Nehra was the chief offender, giving away seven runs by way of wides in the first over of the innings.

He pitched short, failing to spot the ideal line outside off-stump. Nick Knight came down the pitch and sent the ball zipping to the mid-wicket fence with a short arm jab in the fifth over, setting the pace for the rest of the innings.

Knight, who has struggled throughout the series, was the aggressor in the opening partnership, having out-scored Trescothick, as the hosts reached fifty in the eighth over. Knight had scored 26 of those runs while a restrained Trescothick managed nine.

Ganguly rang in the bowling changes in the ninth over -- the revised number of overs before he could spread the field - and pressed Anil Kumble into service.

Kumble broke through the defences of Trescothick with a yorker that crashed into the stumps, and the move had paid off almost immediately as England lost their first wicket for 52.

England continued with their experiment of sending Ronnie Irani up the order at number three. Ganguly ushered in a double bowling change and Ajit Agarkar was sent packing for a four through the covers by Irani.

Ganguly took Agarkar out of the attack after he bowled just one over and replaced him with the gentle off-spin of Yuvraj Singh. Knight, with his cross-batted heaves and slogs, had raced away to a 38-ball 31. Unable to cope with the slow pace of Yuvraj, he swept and top-edged the ball. Mohammad Kaif, amongst the fastest sprinters in the young Indian side, at square leg, dashed at the ball and held onto a stunning catch, stretching full-length. (72 for 2)

The Indian bowlers gave away too many extras early on in the innings -- there were 20 extras in the first 13 overs out of a total of 75 -- despite the young legs on the field displayed a sense of urgency not seen in an Indian squad for years saving atleast 10-15 runs.

Flintoff, who walked out at number four, held himself back while Irani hustled around for the runs. In the 17th over, Flintoff, growing restless with the low scoring rate, slammed Kumble over the deep mid-wicket fence for a six.

Ganguly's excess swapping of bowlers gave the much-needed impetus to the English batsmen. Flintoff cover drove Yuvraj off a short and wide ball, and then walked out and smacked Virender Sehwag bang over his head for four in the next over.

The England hundred came up in the 18th over. There were 66 dot balls and 30 singles as the duo notched up a quickfire 50-run partnership off 53 balls, which came three overs later.

Flintoff took a fancy to Agarkar's seamers, slamming him for a pull off the back-foot for six. Off the first two balls of Agarkar's next over, he struck two lusty boundaries to get to his second fifty of the series from 38 balls.

Off the last ball of the Agarkar over, Flintoff, trying to dispatch every delivery for a four, skied the ball to Nehra at long-on in the 23rd over. (148 for 3)

In the eight overs between the 17th and the 24th over, six bowlers were tried by Ganguly. 59 runs were scored in those eight overs, of which the part-timers bowled six. Ganguly did not use Nehra, who had given away 24 runs in his opening spell of four overs, again until the 31st over of the innings.

Irani and Michael Vaughan scored at a brisk rate, compiling 48 runs in the six overs, with Vaughan scoring 30 off 17 balls, as England looked set to exceed 230 in their allotted 32 overs.

Irani, after registering his maiden limited-overs half-century with a four, was bowled by Kumble, with the England total reading 202 for 5.

England lost another three wickets including those of Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart off successive balls from Zaheer Khan before Darren Gough negotiated the hat-trick ball and finished the innings with a six.

England finished with 229 for 8 and the Indian batting faced the daunting task of scoring at 7.2 an over to win their fourth game of the triangular.

Indian innings:

Sehwag walked out with skipper Ganguly with the stage set just right for him. With 32 overs to get the required 230 runs, at more than seven an over, the young striker could play his natural game.

After a quiet opening over from Darren Gough, Sehwag lay into Alex Tudor, sending the ball flying to the cover fence. He ended the over by flicking the ball down the leg-side for another four.

In the next over, Gough found the edge of Sehwag's bat but failed to convince the umpire. Sehwag celebrated by slashing the bowler over the third-man fielder for a four. Another four through point ended the over as Sehwag had the adrenalin gushing through his veins.

Ganguly failed to get going and departed in ugly fashion, moving towards the leg side to make room but only managing to edge the ball to Flintoff at first slip for 6.

Sehwag, at the other end, went about playing his strokes, grabbing three boundaries off Tudor in one over. Two slashed fours and a six, by pivoting on his toes, saw him crusiing towards his second half century of the triangular series.

But Irani cut short his whirlwind 41-ball knock of 46 runs by forcing an edge to Stewart at the wicket. Sehwag departed with the Indian score reading 63 for 2 in the tenth over.

Tendulkar joined VVS Laxman with the asking rate climbing the eight run an over mark. In these truncated matches a couple of tight overs sends the asking rate soaring, as Laxman, playing his first game of the series, found out. He holed out, having a crack at Paul Collingwood, and Matthew Hoggard, running in from long-off, held on to the skier. (78 for 3)

Yuvraj walked out to the middle and there was still hope for India, with Tendulkar at the other end only dealing in boundaries. It took a brilliant piece of keeping from Stewart to get rid of India's most dependable batsman in this series.

Irani bowled a wide down the leg-side; Stewart collected the ball and waited for Yuvraj, who was leaning on his front foot, to lift his back foot in order to get his balance right. Knocking the bails off with precise timing, Stewart asked the question even as the third umpire was called. Minutes later, India were 100 for 4 and 130 short of the target with less than 15 overs remaining.

Tendulkar upped the ante and smacked Flintoff for three boundaries in the 19th over.

Irani's next over -- a wicket maiden -- saw an in-cutter bowl Mohammad Kaif, as India headed towards their first defeat in the tourney at 114 for 5.

Irani, the Essex captain, in the midst of his best ever limited-overs international, struck India a double-blow, claiming Ajay Ratra, who scouted outside off and edged the ball to Stewart, who took a sharp catch while standing up to the wickets. Two balls later he claimed his maiden five-wicket haul when Ajit Agarkar gave a simple catch to short midwicket fielder Paul Collingwood.

Tendulkar, attempting a flamboyant swipe outside off from Matthew Hoggard, gave Stewart his third catch of the match. India were eight wickets down and struck by a strategic English blow days before the final on Saturday.

India lost their six wickets for 27 runs between the 17th and the 24th over as they lost the game. England had in the same period consolidated with the Irani-Flintoff partnership collecting 59 runs for the loss of a single wicket.

After Zaheer Khan was dismissed, Nehra and Kumble entertained the crowds with a few lusty blows. A 38-run partnership for the ninth wicket fittingly ended when Irani held onto a well-judged catch at long-on.

England won the match by 64 runs and picked up a bonus point by dismissing India inside the 183-run mark. Besides the bonus point, England struck a psychological swipe at India ahead of Saturday's final at Lord's.