Tendulkar, Ganguly lead brisk start

---

With a big mountain to climb, India sent out the heavy artillery at the top of the order and as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly fired in unison.
A consistent period of high scoring was the order of the day if India were to chase down 316, and the start was certainly picture-perfect. At the end of 25 overs, India were 155 for 1, with Ganguly and Tendulkar having rattled off untroubled half-centuries, reports Cricinfo.
The pitch at The Oval behaved impeccably in the first half, when England's batsmen staged a strong recovery after stuttering to 83 for 4, and it held firm in the second half.
There was little or no movement off the seam for the fast bowlers, and no noticeable purchase for Monty Panesar, the left-arm spinner.
Ganguly set the tone, putting James Anderson away through his favourite point region.
Tendulkar then responded with a flick off Stuart Broad that flew off the bat and it was game on. There was decisiveness to the calling as the pair pinched quick singles.
While they still traded largely in boundaries, there was no hesitancy in the running between wickets, a refreshing trend after the last few games.
Tendulkar picked off Anderson for three consecutive boundaries - an off-drive, a flick through square-leg and a repeat of the earlier stroke - in the 8th over, and Ganguly was keen not to be left out.
Off the next over he came breezily down the pitch to Stuart Broad and carved him over cover. There was an exchange of words as Broad clearly wasn't enjoying bowling to two highly skilled one-day batsmen on an unhelpful pitch.

India 235 for 5 (Ganguly 53, Tendulkar 94 , Gambhir 47): England 316 for 6 (Shah 107*, Pietersen 53, Wright 50) at 10:30 pm