India thwart England to clinch one-day series
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
BANGALORE, Nov 24 (Reuters): India grabbed crucial wickets in the final overs to win the fourth one-dayer against England by 19 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method Sunday to take an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the seven-match series.
India's left-arm bowler Zaheer Khan dismissed Owais Shah for 72 and fast bowler Ishant Sharma sent back Andrew Flintoff for 41 in successive overs in the final powerplay to derail England's spectacular chase of a revised target of 198.
The pair had put on 82 off just 48 balls for the fourth wicket after a slow start by the tourists in the rain-affected day-night match.
"At the end we were done in by an Indian side that is playing fantastic cricket," said England captain Kevin Pietersen. "We are still going to make sure that the rest of the competition is very, very competitive."
Put in to bat in overcast conditions, India made 166 for four in the allotted 22 overs after the innings was twice interrupted by rain.
Aggressive opener Virender Sehwag lashed his second successive half century (69) and shared in a 79-run second-wicket stand with Gautam Gambhir (40) to give India a solid start.
England, looking to turn around a poor run of form, lost openers Ravi Bopara (1) and Ian Bell (12) plus Pietersen (5) by the ninth over with the total on 52.
India 166 for 4 (Sehwag 69, Gambhir 40) beat England 178 for 8 (Shah 72, Flintoff 41) by 19 runs (D/L method)
India's left-arm bowler Zaheer Khan dismissed Owais Shah for 72 and fast bowler Ishant Sharma sent back Andrew Flintoff for 41 in successive overs in the final powerplay to derail England's spectacular chase of a revised target of 198.
The pair had put on 82 off just 48 balls for the fourth wicket after a slow start by the tourists in the rain-affected day-night match.
"At the end we were done in by an Indian side that is playing fantastic cricket," said England captain Kevin Pietersen. "We are still going to make sure that the rest of the competition is very, very competitive."
Put in to bat in overcast conditions, India made 166 for four in the allotted 22 overs after the innings was twice interrupted by rain.
Aggressive opener Virender Sehwag lashed his second successive half century (69) and shared in a 79-run second-wicket stand with Gautam Gambhir (40) to give India a solid start.
England, looking to turn around a poor run of form, lost openers Ravi Bopara (1) and Ian Bell (12) plus Pietersen (5) by the ninth over with the total on 52.
India 166 for 4 (Sehwag 69, Gambhir 40) beat England 178 for 8 (Shah 72, Flintoff 41) by 19 runs (D/L method)