By IANS
Manchester : An unbeaten 99-run stand for the eighth wicket between Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara helped England snatch a three-wicket win against India in the fourth one-day international (ODI) at the Old Trafford here.
Batting first, India were bowled out for 212 and England reached the target with two overs to spare, giving the hosts a 3-1 lead in the seven-match ODI series.
England’s chase appeared to be floundering as they struggled at 114 for seven till Broad (45 not out, 73 balls, 3x4s) and Bopara (43 not out, 82 balls, 3x4s) added 99 to see the home through without any further alarm.
The partnership was England’s best-ever eighth wicket stand in limited overs international cricket.
Before showing his skills with the bat, the lanky Broad had dismissed four Indian batsmen conceding 51 runs in his 10-over quota, earning the paceman the Man of the Match award in the day-night encounter.
Earlier, captain Rahul Dravid won the toss but the Indian batting failed to rise to the great heights of the recent Test series that they won 1-0.
Only Yuvraj Singh (71, 104 balls, 5x4s, 1×6) and Sachin Tendulkar (55, 86 balls, 9x4s) came good as the team failed to last the full complement of 50 overs, being bowled out for 212 in 49.4 overs.
The only consolation for India was some aggressive and effective bowling by pacers Ajit Agarkar, who took four wickets, and Zaheer Khan.
They bowled well early in the innings to reduce England to 35 for three. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals till Broad joined Bopara with the scoreboard reading 114 for seven.
The pair batted intelligently, taking some risks while running between the wickets to steal the extra run and put pressure on the Indian fielders. They scored 99 in 24.1 overs at a rate of 4.09 runs an over.
While the batsmen gained in confidence, the Indian bowlers, especially spinners Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla, lost the initiative that had been seized by Agarkar and Zaheer at the start of the innings.
Zaheer opened the floodgates when he castled left-hander Alastair Cook for nought with a beauty. It was the fifth ball of the innings and England were yet to score a run.
Agarkar struck next, having wicketkeeper Matt Prior caught by Powar. England: 14 for two.
Agarkar bowled a sharp in-cutter that in-form Ian Bell (24) let go for the wicketkeeper. But he was bewildered to turn back and see the ball dislodging the bails.
The Mumbai bowler then added the prized scalp of Kevin Pieterson (18), caught by Chawla. An unstoppable Agarkar next accounted for danger man Andrew Flintoff (5) when he failed to keep his shot and Yuvraj Singh held the catch at point.
Owais Shah also did not last long and was dismissed by Powar but that was the last success for the Indians as Broad and Bopara guided England to victory.
Earlier, Sourav Ganguly (9), Dinesh Karthik (4) and Dravid (1) had got out cheaply before Tendulkar and Yuvraj added 71 for the fourth wicket to give some respectability into the Indian innings.
The partnership was broken when Tendulkar tried to pull part-time off-spinner Pieterson but top edged the ball and Flintoff held a good running catch near the mid-wicket boundary.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj then added 37 for the fifth wicket at a rate of 4.53 an over, a shade better than the previous partnership.
Although two 31-runs stands – between Yuvraj and Power and between Zaheer and Chawla – followed, they were just not enough to take India to a formidable total.
As Dravid conceded later, India fell short by about 25 runs.
SCOREBOARD
Fourth One-day International, India vs. England, Old Trafford, Manchester
India:
Sourav Ganguly c Bell b Anderson 9
Sachin Tendulkar c Flintoff b Pietersen 55
Dinesh Karthik c Prior b Broad 4
Rahul Dravid c Prior b Flintoff 1
Yuvraj Singh b Broad 71
Mahendra Singh Dhoni b Panesar 13
Ajit Agarkar c Prior b Broad 6
Ramesh Powar c Bell b Broad 7
Piyush Chawla not out 13
Zaheer Khan c Collingwood b Anderson 20
Rudra Pratap Singh c Bopara b Anderson 0
Extras: (leg byes 4, wides 8, no balls 1) 13
Total: (all out in 49.4 overs) 212
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Ganguly, 3.2 overs), 2-31 (Karthik, 10.2), 3-32 (Dravid, 11.6), 4-103 (Tendulkar, 29.3), 5-140 (Dhoni, 37.4), 6-147 (Agarkar, 38.6), 7-178 (Yuvraj, 44.2), 8-179 (Powar, 44.4), 9-210 (Khan, 49.2)
Bowling:
Stuart Broad 10 1 51 4 (1nb, 1w)
James Anderson 9.4 2 38 3 (2w)
Andrew Flintoff 10 3 31 1 (1w)
Monty Panesar 10 0 39 1
Paul Collingwood 9 0 43 0
Kevin Pietersen 1 0 6 1 6.00
England:
Alastair Cook b Khan 0
Matt Prior c Powar b Agarkar 4
Ian Bell b Agarkar 24
Kevin Pietersen c Chawla b Agarkar 18
Paul Collingwood run out (Singh/Dhoni) 47
Andrew Flintoff c Yuvraj b Agarkar 5
Owais Shah c Karthik b Powar 8
Ravi Bopara not out 43
Stuart Broad not out 45
Extras: (lb 5, w 13, nb 1) 19
Total: (for seven wickets in 48 overs) 213
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Cook, 0.5 overs), 2-14 (Prior, 3.1), 3-35 (Bell, 5.5), 4-81 (Pietersen, 14.4), 5-95 (Flintoff, 16.3), 6-110 (Shah, 21.2), 7-114 (Collingwood, 23.5)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 9 1 45 1
Ajit Agarkar 10 0 60 4 (1nb, 3w)
Rudra Pratap Singh 6 0 22 0 (1w)
Piyush Chawla 10 0 43 0 (4w)
Ramesh Powar 10 0 26 1 (1w)
Yuvraj Singh 2 0 8 0
Sachin Tendulkar 1 0 4 0
Result: England won by three wickets
Series: England lead 3-1
Man of the Match: Stuart Broad (England)
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Mark Benson (England)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (England)
Referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)