End. Vs. Ind--England wins!!!

ODI no. 2620

NatWest Series [India in England] - 7th ODI England v India

2007 season

Played at Lord's, London, on 8 September 2007 (50-over match) Result England won by 7 wickets (with 82 balls remaining)

	India innings (50 overs maximum)	R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	SC Ganguly	c Flintoff b Anderson	15	30	22	2	0	68.18
	SR Tendulkar	c Prior b Flintoff	30	80	46	4	0	65.21
	G Gambhir	c Wright b Anderson	12	30	20	0	0	60.00
	R Dravid	c Prior b Flintoff	0	5	3	0	0	0.00
	Yuvraj Singh	c Collingwood b Mascarenhas	28	77	48	1	1	58.33
	RV Uthappa	c Anderson b Mascarenhas	22	40	30	2	0	73.33
	MS Dhoni	c Anderson b Flintoff	50	98	72	4	1	69.44
	RR Powar	run out (Shah/Prior)	10	27	20	1	0	50.00
	Piyush Chawla	st Prior b Mascarenhas	0	5	6	0	0	0.00
	Z Khan	b Panesar	7	15	16	1	0	43.75
	RP Singh	not out	1	13	6	0	0	16.66
	Extras	(lb 8, nb 4)	12
	Total	(all out; 47.3 overs)	187	(3.93 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-26 (Ganguly, 6.1 ov), 2-52 (Gambhir, 12.4 ov), 3-53 (Dravid, 13.3 ov), 4-59 (Tendulkar, 15.4 ov), 5-106 (Uthappa, 24.3 ov), 6-119 (Yuvraj Singh, 30.2 ov), 7-147 (Powar, 37.2 ov), 8-148 (Piyush Chawla, 38.4 ov), 9-160 (Khan, 41.6 ov), 10-187 (Dhoni, 47.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JM Anderson	9	1	28	2	3.11
	SCJ Broad	10	0	44	0	4.40
	A Flintoff	8.3	0	45	3	5.29	(4nb)
	AD Mascarenhas	10	2	23	3	2.30
	LJ Wright	2	0	11	0	5.50
	MS Panesar	8	2	28	1	3.50

	England innings (target: 188 runs from 50 overs)	R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	MJ Prior	c Dhoni b Singh	0	9	7	0	0	0.00
	LJ Wright	c & b Singh	0	6	2	0	0	0.00
	IR Bell	run out (Tendulkar/Ganguly)	36	62	40	6	0	90.00
	KP Pietersen	not out	71	138	96	6	1	73.95
	PD Collingwood	not out	64	77	73	7	1	87.67
	Extras	(lb 8, w 9)	17
	Total	(3 wickets; 36.2 overs)	188	(5.17 runs per over)

Did not bat OA Shah, A Flintoff, AD Mascarenhas, SCJ Broad, MS Panesar, JM Anderson

Fall of wickets1-10 (Wright, 1.2 ov), 2-11 (Prior, 1.4 ov), 3-74 (Bell, 15.6 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Z Khan	9	1	40	0	4.44	(1w)
	RP Singh	7	0	40	2	5.71	(4w)
	Piyush Chawla	9	1	44	0	4.88
	SC Ganguly	4	0	13	0	3.25
	RR Powar	5.2	0	32	0	6.00
	Yuvraj Singh	2	0	11	0	5.50

Toss India, who chose to bat first Series England won the 7-match series 4-3 Player of the match KP Pietersen (England) Player of the series IR Bell (England) Umpires Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and IJ Gould TV umpire PJ Hartley Match referee RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka) Reserve umpire RJ Bailey

Match notes

• India innings
• Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
• India: 50 runs in 11.5 overs (71 balls), Extras 0
• Drinks: India - 53/3 in 15.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 26, Yuvraj Singh 0)
• Power Play 3: Overs 15.1 - 20.0
• India: 100 runs in 23.3 overs (144 balls), Extras 7
• Drinks: India - 119/5 in 30.0 overs (Yuvraj Singh 28, MS Dhoni 4)
• India: 150 runs in 38.6 overs (237 balls), Extras 11
• MS Dhoni: 50 off 69 balls (4 x 4, 1 x 6)
• Innings Break: India - 187/10 in 47.3 overs (RP Singh 1)

• England innings
• England: 50 runs in 9.1 overs (60 balls), Extras 13
• 3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 60 balls (IR Bell 26, KP Pietersen 21, Ex 3)
• Drinks: England - 74/3 in 16.0 overs (KP Pietersen 25)
• Power Play 2: Overs 17.1 - 22.0
• England: 100 runs in 21.5 overs (136 balls), Extras 13
• 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 64 balls (KP Pietersen 19, PD Collingwood 31, Ex 0)
• KP Pietersen: 50 off 78 balls (4 x 4, 1 x 6)
• England: 150 runs in 31.3 overs (194 balls), Extras 13
• PD Collingwood: 50 off 58 balls (5 x 4, 1 x 6)
• Drinks: England - 157/3 in 33.0 overs (KP Pietersen 57, PD Collingwood 51)
• 4th Wicket: 100 runs in 117 balls (KP Pietersen 38, PD Collingwood 61, Ex 4)
• One Day International Scorers: Raghav and Binoy George

England v India, 7th ODI, Lord's

Weaknesses catch up with India

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at Lord's

September 8, 2007

Sourav Ganguly, in the most torturous innings all summer, flayed as if in blindfolds Getty Images

It was a struggle to get out of St. Johns Wood station this morning, with a frenetic scramble for tickets clogging Wellington Road. Spectators were willing to pay ten times the actual amount and Lord's was the place to be in London.

All the excitement culminated in the most anti-climactic end to a competitive series. The one-sided contest seemed even more flat after the humdinger at The Oval. The freedom and expression that the teams displayed on Wednesday was rarely seen; instead there was attrition, a feature typical of when too much is at stake. Suddenly the teams appeared to have woken up to how big the prize was.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this forgettable decider, let's get the big picture out of the way. England were the better side through the series and deserved winners. They were more consistent with the bat, aggressive with the ball, and far more athletic on the field. India played an important part in converting a long series into a cracking one but their weaknesses - especially in the field - were bound to be exploited over seven matches.

Now to two issues that were the talking points of the match. Today's was the sort of toss that's supposed to be a "good one to lose". Rahul Dravid won it and batted but soon found out that bowling might have been a better option. In similar conditions at Southampton and Edgbaston he'd chosen to bowl but realised that batting might have been better. The problem may lie with his tendency to win tosses but with seven batsmen you'd expect to counter conditions and put up a decent score.

India's problem might have arisen from a need to change their mindset - and the eventual failure to do so. They needed to switch from the throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-everything approach that was on display at The Oval to a knuckle-down-and-get-a-competitive-score here. Instead Sourav Ganguly, in the most torturous innings all summer, flayed as if in blindfolds and the rest attempted too much too early. A more grafted approach could have got them to 240, a total which could have proved tricky later in the day.

The second point of contention needs to be taken more seriously. Sachin Tendulkar, for the third time on this tour, was at the receiving end of a contentious decision. Actually it was quite a howler. It happened at Bristol, when he was sawn off on 99, and it happened here, at a critical juncture of a vital match. He'd just backed away and walloped Andrew Flintoff over cover, not once but twice, and promised more. He'd got his eye in and gauged the pitch. And then Aleem Dar, probably going on sound rather than sight, gave him caught behind when the bat had merely clipped the pad. Of course Dar is human, like the rest of us, but was this the time to reiterate that truism?

It was a point from which India never recovered. England gathered momentum and didn't look back. Chasing 187 was going to be tricky at the most and when Kevin Pietersen, for the first time all series, started reading Piyush Chawla's legbreaks it was time to draw the curtains. India's fielding inadequacies came to the fore and their part-timers weren't effective. If this was the one match you watched in the series, you'd have wondered how India had managed to win three games before today. Credit to India for overcoming their weaknesses to setup a classic finish but the weaknesses were so evident that they ultimately caught up.

England v India, 7th ODI, Lord's

Dravid apprehensive on technology assisting umpires

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at Lord's

September 8, 2007

In the heat of the moment, Rahul Dravid was extremely disappointed at his caught-behind decision Getty Images

India were at the receiving end of two contentious umpiring decisions in the deciding match of the series but Rahul Dravid, their captain, didn't think present-day technology was good enough to aid umpires in all situations.

Both Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were disappointed with their caught-behind decisions and stood their ground after umpire Aleem Dar raised his finger, but Dravid wasn't in favour of technology being used more often.

"I don't think the technology is good enough at the moment, especially for fine edges, snicks and lbws," he said. "It is for line decisions and I think there it should stay."

Replays were inconclusive with regard to Dravid's dismissal, suggesting that there might have been a faint edge after all. "I did not feel the snick at that stage," he said when asked about the Andrew Flintoff delivery that cut him in half before he had opened his account. "The technology showed that I got a snick and I have to accept it. May be they were right as I did not feel it at that moment because generally, you feel when you snick it. May be this time I didn't feel it. But I can't argue with snicko, can I?"

There were no doubts, though, about Tendulkar's dismissal. The bat did not make contact with the ball and television replays indicated that the bat had brushed the pad.

India's administrative manager Rajeev Shukla had earlier said that the team were planning to lodge a protest regarding umpiring standards in this series. "We'll lodge a complaint with the ICC about the decisions," Shukla was quoted as saying in PTI. Dravid was expected to furnish an umpires' report, as all captains do at the end of the series, and said he will convey his thoughts in that report.

England captain Paul Collingwood was satisfied with the overall quality of the umpiring despite the number of errors over the tour, starting from the Tests.

"I think overall the standard of umpiring has been pretty high," he said. "There's been some decisions that probably haven't been correct at times but we all make mistakes."

England v India, 7th ODI, Lord's

Collingwood praises new-ball attack

Jenny Thompson at Lord's

September 8, 2007

Paul Collingwood on Andrew Flintoff: 'He's two players in one and he's a massive character to have in the dressing room as well' Getty Images

While Kevin Pietersen was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for his unbeaten 71, England's captain Paul Collingwood hailed his young bowlers who set the tone from the first ball to wrap up the series win at Lord's.

"I think the new-ball combination has been pretty crucial," Collingwood said. "James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been building a good partnership there. Jimmy's first ball set the tone and from then on it was pure aggression. Andrew Flintoff helps when he can come in first change and that gives us a lot of confidence: the batsmen see off the new ball and in comes the big fella."

Worries continued about Flintoff's ankle after the match, but he came through a delayed fitness assessment ahead of the ICC World Twenty20. The temptation to use Flintoff is always there, of course, and he is always complicit in the desire to bowl. Despite fears over his fragility, today he bowled his full ten overs.

"Freddie's [Flintoff] always willing to bowl," Collingwood said. "As a captain, you don't want to make anything worse. Today he said he was fine. Obviously, he's got a bit of soreness there. We all know he balances the side very well when he's playing. He's two players in one and he's a massive character to have in the dressing room as well".

He then multiplied from two players in the eyes of the losing captain Rahul Dravid who decided Flintoff was "half their side." When Collingwood learned of this statement, he was quick to play such suggestions down: "We've also won without him in this series and that's an important thing."

Also of importance, as England's thoughts now turn to South Africa, is that they head there on the back of a series win. "It's always nice to win a series, you take a lot of confidence from the actual win. Our whole approach is improving all the time. We said it wasn't going to happen overnight and it didn't. But we're improving."

England will not turn into one-day world beaters overnight (and indeed they were pushed right to the last to emerge 4-3 winners) but they will have little chance to catch their breath before they're on a plane to South Africa. Collingwood is resigned to the demands of the international calendar : "The schedules are so tight but that's just the way it is" - yet he concedes that such momentum in this instance can only help. A short, sharp tournament, after all, poses less of a mentally exhaustive challenge than the two months that comprised the last world gathering.

He doesn't believe, either, that the new players coming in will affect the equilibrium of the one-day set-up. "I don't think we're away from each other too long. The squad's got some Twenty20 specialists in. We needed that kind of experience to give us an edge over the other team. The squad we've got covers all bases and it's an exciting one as well."

Dravid also talked of the real positives that India can take to South Africa, after coming back from 1-3 to take the series to the wire. "I'm pretty confident India can put up a good show there. Our resilience and intensity throughout the summer has been a really great and positive."

eng just got lucky...as tendulkar and dravid (i think) were given outs when they actually weren't...if even tendulkar had stayed..india might have won...umpires are to be blamed here...poor tendulkar..this was the third time i think in this whole tour...there should be some punishment for the umpires as well..if they give a wrong decision..

well anyways...congrats to eng....