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India down England in D/L method

November 21, 2008 00:00:00


India took a 3-0 lead in the one-day series with a 16-run Duckworth-Lewis win over a much-improved England side, reports BBC.
Chasing 241 in 49 overs, Virender Sehwag (68) and Yuvraj Singh (38) gave India a platform before bad light curtailed play on 198-5 from 40 overs.
Andrew Flintoff (3-31) was the pick of England's bowling attack in Kanpur.
Openers Ravi Bopara (60) and Ian Bell (46) gave England a fine start, putting on 79 in 14.3 overs before Harbhajan Singh (3-31) triggered a collapse.
The result means England will need to win the remaining four matches to retain any hopes of an unlikely series victory.
Each team had just one over cut from the usual 50-over allotment despite early morning fog forcing the start of the match to be delayed by 45 minutes. Though India were on top in the closing stages, the finale was spoilt for the sell-out crowd with India 43 runs away from their target.
But umpires Amiesh Saheba and Russell Tiffin had no option but to offer the light to Mahendra Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan, who gratefully accepted in the knowledge that by doing so, India could take the win.
The decision infuriated England captain Kevin Pietersen, who remonstrated with both officials as the towering Green Park floodlights remained idle.
As expected, England named Graeme Swann in their starting XI, sacrificing Steve Harmison for the second spin option.
Seamer Ishant Sharma, who took 15 wickets and earned the man of the series award in the 2-0 Test series win over Australia, returned for India, with RP Singh making way.
Pietersen won the toss and elected to bat on a standard sub-continent pitch, a slow surface likely to take turn as the match progressed.

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