LEEDS: India broke their losing streak with a morale-boosting 38-run victory on Duckworth-Lewis method in the must-win fifth one-dayer to keep their hopes alive in the seven-match cricket series here on September 2.
Sachin Tendulkar (71) at the top and Yuvraj Singh (72) in the middle order led a perfect batting performance with aggressive half-centuries as India put up a commanding 324 for 6 in the rain-curtailed match at Headingley.
The inclement weather made things even worse for England as the target was revised to 311 in 45 overs after successive rain-interruptions. India's surprising bowling hero, however, was Sourav Ganguly who, after making a well paced 59 at the top, picked the two vital wickets of Matt Prior and Ian Bell to put the skids under England's scoring.
After being reduced to 104 for 4 in the 16th over, when players went off the field after the second of three stoppages, England were always lagging behind the par score on the D-L chart. And so, despite a fighting 91 not out from skipper Paul Collingwood, England ended up with 242 for 8 in 39 overs, well below the required 280, when the rains forced a third and final halt to proceedings. Earlier, Tendulkar hit a 59-ball 71 and shared a 116-run opening stand with Sourav Ganguly (59) while Yuvraj Singh struck a hurricane 72.
Gautam Gambhir came up with a valuable 51 at number three and featured in a useful 94-run stand with Yuvraj. Both Tendulkar, who struck 13 fours in his ferocious knock, and Ganguly overcame a slow start to flay the England bowlers to all parts of the field. Ganguly changed gears smoothly as he smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 79-ball innings.
The duo's 118-ball association was their 19th century stand for the first wicket. Overall this was the 24th century stand between the seasoned pros and it gave their team a rollicking start. Yuvraj Singh, with 10 fours and two sixes, then piled on the misery for England with a sizzling knock.
Gambhir thrived on two dropped catches to become the fourth batsman in the innings to record a half century. Play was interrupted, for the first time in the day, after the 47th over by strong drizzle. England rued the absence of Andrew Flintoff, who was ruled out because of a knee injury, while India were lucky to see Zaheer Khan pass hit fitness test after injuring his left ankle in the previous game.
England overcame the early loss of Alastair Cook to make a strong start with Prior (46) and Bell (44) going after the Indian bowlers. Butter fingers, which had undone them in the previous matches, continued to haunt India as Prior was dropped by Tendulkar at first slip early in his innings and Bell was put down by Ganguly at the same position off the first ball he faced.
The duo was going great guns, England 97 for 1 in just 13 overs, when Ganguly struck. The 'Prince of Kolkata' beat Prior with his swing and Mahendra Singh Dhoni came up with a smart stumping, the first of his world record six dismissals.
Zaheer Khan then had Kevin Pietersen, caught behind for nought, before Ganguly struck his second blow. The right-arm part-time medium pacer induced a faint nick from Bell and Dhoni came up with another superb glove work that put England firmly on the back foot. From there on, it was always a tough task for England.
Collingwood continued to wage a lone battle but wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Dhoni made the most the situation, adding Owais Shah and Jon Lewis to his list of scalps. The Jharkhand player became the first Indian wicketkeeper to effect six dismissals in an ODI, Australian Adam Gilchrist being the other stumper to hold the record.
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