Cricket/One-day international series: At last the spell has been broken. After 25 completed matches in 10 months of trying England have won a one-day international by batting first and defending a target writes Mike Selvey at The Oval
While Mohammed Kaif was at the crease, India had a nominal chance of chasing down a massive 308 to win the second match and retain an interest in the three-match series. But the loss of two wickets inside the first four overs, including the captain Sourav Ganguly to a bizarre run-out following a mid-pitch collision with VVS Laxman, cost them dear. Kaif eventually went to Ashley Giles, caught for 51 at short fine-leg, top edging a sweep, and from 115 for five there was no coming back.
England ran out winners by 70 runs, Giles taking three for 26 and Darren Gough, having removed Virender Sehwag in his opening over, returning for the tail to finish with four for 50. Gough, in fact, had the best part of five overs at the last pair in which to take a fifth wicket, giving him 200 in one-dayers, and the best figures of his career. It was not to be.
Somehow Harbhajan Singh and Lakshmipathy Bilaji survived to add 64 for the final wicket, a record for India.
Yet again, in what has been a remarkable personal summer for him, England relied heavily on the awesome power of Andrew Flintoff to bail them out of a mess caused by a mesmerising spell of rip-snorting off-spin from Harbhajan, the Turbanator. The spell brought Harbhajan the wickets of Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan in 10 overs at a cost of just 14 runs.
At 105 for four in the 21st over, England themselves had been in trouble. Flintoff, though, sensibly saw out Harbhajan's spell and then, with Paul Collingwood, chalk to his cheese, set about constructing a match-winning fifth-wicket partnership of 174, scored at more than a run a ball.
Flintoff was finally out, selflessly, for 99, top-edging to the wicketkeeper having hit four giant sixes and nine fours in 85 balls, and walked from the field, grinning from ear to ear as the applause rained down. It is hard to say whether Flintoff enjoys the crowd more than they enjoy him but it is a close-run thing.
Only on 80 when Balaji dropped a straightforward chance at deep square-leg, did he offer a chance.
By then, with just two overs of the innings remaining, England's total had been secured as Collingwood, playing precisely the sort of scampering, inventive innings that England expect from him, went on to finish unbeaten on 79 with 11 fours.
The innings was brought to an emphatic conclusion by Geraint Jones, who took a dozen of the 18 runs that came from the final over. While Harbhajan had been weaving his spell, just 64 runs came from 19 overs. But precisely 100 came from the last 10, 60 of which came from the final five overs.
India, who won the toss and and, as is to be expected at this time of year, chose to field first, would have expected better things at the start while there was still autumnal moisture around.
But wides came at a startling rate - 28 in the innings is a disgrace - so that Trescothick and Vikram Solanki cracked on, adding 71 in fewer than 12 overs before the left-hander top edged to deep square leg in Harbhajan's first over.
Immediately, seeing the ball turn sharply, Ganguly brought on Virender Sehwag to bowl his off-spin as well, pegging England back and bringing dividends. Vaughan continued his impoverished one-day run by tickling a leg-side catch to the keeper, while at the other end Andrew Strauss top-edged a sweep and Solanki, after another cultured innings of 46, likewise edged down legside to Rahul Dravid.
Tomorrow's game at Lord's is academic and Vaughan said: "It's been a very impressive performance - probably one of our best one-day performances in a while. We lost a cluster of four wickets but Freddie (Flintoff) is phenomenal when he starts playing like that."
