CRICKET: England will regroup at the Oval in a fortnight for the finale to their international summer hoping their Ashes hopes were not ended by India's emphatic and historic victory in the third Test at Headingley.
All season the players and management have been preparing for this winter challenge of competing with Australia.
That, though, was dependent on them maintaining their winning streak and dominant cricket displayed against Sri Lanka and in the opening two Tests against India.
With a series defeat looming, India rallied and produced a performance regarded by England captain Nasser Hussain as "almost the perfect Test match", and clinched an innings and 46 runs victory to level the series.
It was their first victory in England since 1986 and their first innings win overseas since beating Australia in 1977-78.
More important, though, was the ruthless efficiency in which they dominated England from start to finish which will lift their confidence.
Their comprehensive win, claiming England's last six wickets for only 44 runs in 78 minutes on the final morning, means coach Duncan Fletcher and captain Hussain now need to lift spirits if they are to triumph at the Oval.
It will not be an easy task, particularly with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff - a key contributor to England's successes in the last year - facing a hernia operation which will sideline him for six weeks.
Captain Nasser Hussain, whose brilliant, determined century could not prevent India completing victory just seven minutes before lunch, began the process of lifting morale within minutes by addressing his team in the dressing room.
"We had a chat in the dressing room," said Hussain. "We've lost a Test match and it's not the end of the world, but it will be the end of the world if we lose the next one.
"We can all say 'it's the bowler's fault' and be quite selfish about it, but we're bigger than that now and we must take collective responsibility in the team."
Needing a Headingley miracle at the start of yesterday when they resumed on 239 for four - 116 runs behind - England's hopes rested on their ability to withstand India's early enthusiasm.
Hussain, unbeaten on 90 overnight, and Stewart had already frustrated the tourists for 38 overs during a 91-run stand on Sunday and both needed to remain at the crease for the majority of the day if England were to avoid their first Headingley defeat since 1997.
They withstood 35 minutes until Anil Kumble was brought into the attack and struck with his sixth ball just four overs after Hussain had reached his 12th Test century.
Hussain was the first of three wickets to fall in 10 deliveries, his nearly five hours of resistance ended with a delivery which bounced higher than he had expected and looped up off bat and pad to short leg.
Having dismissed all of England's specialist batsmen, the end was swift with Ashley Giles run out, Alex Tudor deflecting to short leg before Kumble fittingly claimed the final wicket of Andrew Caddick.
INDIA first innings 628-8 declared (S Tendulkar 193, R Dravid 148, S Ganguly 128, S.Bangar 68)
ENGLAND first innings 273 (A Stewart 78 not out, M.Vaughan 61)
ENGLAND second innings (overnight 239-4) R Key lbw b Kumble 34
M Vaughan lbw b Agarkar 15
M Butcher c Dravid b Bangar 42
N Hussain c Sehwag b Kumble 110
J Crawley c Sehwag b Bangar 12
A Stewart c Dravid b Kumble 47
A Flintoff c Dravid b Khan 0
A Tudor c Sehwag b H Singh 21
A Giles run out 10
A Caddick c Ganguly b Kumble 3
M Hoggard not out 1
Extras (b-3 lb-5 nb-6) 14
Total 309
Fall of wickets: 1-28 2-76 3-116 4-148 5-265 6-267 7-267 8-299 9-307
Bowling: Khan 22-7-63-1 (nb-5), Agarkar 18-5-59-1, Bangar 13-2-54-2, Kumble 29.5-12-66-4 (nb-1), H Singh 27-7-56-1, Sehwag 1-0-3-0
Result: India won by an innings and 46 runs.
First test: Lord's, London - England won by 170 runs.
Second test: Trent Bridge, Nottingham - match drawn.
Fourth test: The Oval, London - September 5th-9th.
