The group B World Cup clash between India and England ended in a tie after both the teams scored 338 runs at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.
A sloppy India got their act together in the nick of time to escape with a dramatic tie against a spirited England in a nerve-wracking World Cup group B league match here today.
The Indians rode on Sachin Tendulkar's record fifth World Cup century — Tendulkar made 120 — to pile up 338 all out, but a heroic batting display by skipper Andrew Strauss (158) and some toothless bowling allowed England to leave the match tied at a jam-packed Chinnaswamy Stadium.
With 14 needed off the last over bowled by Munaf Patel, Graeme Swann collected three runs before Ahmal Shahzad sent the bowler straight down the ground for a six.
That reduced the difference as England needed five off three, and then two off the last delivery. Swann drove the final ball but could not clear mid-off as the match, which saw two magnificent knocks, came to a thrilling end.
The 37-year-old Tendulkar provided the spark in a scintillating Indian batting display. It was vintage stuff by Tendulkar as he unleashed 10 fours and five sixes in his 115-ball 120 to lay the platform for the Indian onslaught.
Tendulkar's milestone moment came in the 35th over when he glanced Tim Bresnan to the boundary to record his fifth World Cup ton, surpassing former India captain Sourav Ganguly, current Australia captain Ricky Ponting, and former Australian batsman Mark Waugh, who each have four hundreds to their credit.
But things took a dramatic turn with England making a strong reply.
India, touted as the favourites, were in the end lucky to escape with a tie as England lost their nerve and collapsed in the dying stages after being 282 for two at one stage.
It was a remarkable result as both teams managed to get a point from the thrilling contest, which saw fortunes fluctuate from one team to the other till the very end.
The Indians gave a sorry account of themselves in the field. Not only did they field poorly, but their bowling also lacked sting. It was a fiery burst by Zaheer Khan, who took the key wickets of Strauss and Bell off successive balls in the 43rd over, which helped them to bounce back.
The England innings began with a flourish as Strauss and Kevin Pietersen went for their strokes and maintained a scoring rate of over seven runs an over.
The opening pair put on 68 runs before Patel provided the breakthrough by accounting for Pietersen, taking a surprising return catch on his second attempt, much to the delight of his teammates.
Strauss seemed to be in no discomfort as he notched up his 28th ODI half-century and also completed the milestone of scoring more than 4,000 runs in ODIs.
Strauss and Jonathan Trott tried to carry the momentum before legspinner Piyush Chawla struck by trapping Trott plumb in front of the wicket.
Ian Bell was lucky to survive a confident shout for leg before. Umpire Billy Bowden ruled him not out, but the Indians opted for a review.
Television replays showed that the ball would have hit the middle and off stumps, but the third umpire decided that he was too far down the track to be given out.
Strauss notched up his sixth ODI century and his first in the World Cup when he took a single off Yusuf Pathan to keep his team's run chase on track.
The Indian bowling lacked any sting as both Strauss and Bell took them closer to the target while poor fielding only compounded the home team's misery.
The duo stitched 170 runs for the third wicket before Khan livened up proceedings by getting the scalps of Bell (69) and Strauss off consecutive deliveries.
Bell, who was struggling with cramps, tried to go for a mighty heave but failed to time the ball properly and Virat Kohli made no mistake with the catch.
Off the very next ball, Strauss was trapped leg before by an inswinging yorker to allow the Indians to come right back into the game.
Khan struck again in the next over by castling the dangerous Paul Collingwood and suddenly England had slumped to 285 for five from a comfortable 281 for two.
Harbhajan Singh then got rid of wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior with Suresh Raina taking a well-judged catch.
Tim Bresnan and Swann smashed Chawla for two sixes in the penutimate over to once again bring England back in contention. But the three-time finalists fell short by just one run in the final analysis as the match ended in a tie, the fourth time in the history of the World Cup.
Earlier, after electing to bat first on winning the toss, the Indian innings began on a tentative note, but the runs started flowing once the batsmen came to terms with the pace and bounce of the track.
Opener Virender Sehwag had a reprieve off the very first ball of the innings as Swann dropped a difficult chance at second slip off James Anderson.
The dashing opener tried to push Anderson's outgoing delivery and got a thick edge, but Swann could not latch on to the sharp chance.
Sehwag had two more close shaves in an eventful first over as he struggled to time the ball well. But he began to look a little more comfortable against paceman Shahzad as he spanked him to the boundary off his first ball.
Sehwag thereafter played with customary flourish and chose Anderson for special treatment, clobbering him for 11 runs in one over.
But he perished in the very next over with pacer Bresnan accounting for his scalp in his first over.
Bresnan provided some width and Sehwag tried to steer the ball through the vacant slips but only succeeded in edging it to 'keeper Prior. His whirlwind knock of 35 came off 26 balls and contained six boundaries.
The left-handed Gautam Gambhir, who joined Tendulkar after Sehwag's fall, made his intentions clear as he used his feet to smash spinner Swann to the boundary in his first over. But in that same over, Gambhir was lucky to survive a stumping chance.
Tendulkar then greeted Swann with two consecutive sixes.
Tendulkar lifted Swann's first ball for a six over wide long-on with intense power and then clobbered the next ball over midwicket.
While Tendulkar went on the offensive, Gambhir got to his 22nd ODI half century with a streaky boundary to third man.
But Gambhir (51) perished in the next over, getting bowled by Swann as he lazily tried to steer a turning ball towards third man only to see his stumps being knocked down, ending the rollicking 134-run partnership.
Tendulkar then created history by becoming the first cricketer to score five centuries in the World Cup when he glanced Bresnan to the fine leg boundary.
After reaching the milestone, Tendulkar unleashed a flurry of strokes and again picked Swann for special treatment by clobbering him for a mighty six over long-on.
It was Anderson who brought an end to Tendulkar's rampaging innings as the champion batsman played his shot a touch too early and Yardy took the catch at cover. His scintillating 115-ball 120 contained 10 boundaries and five sixes.
Yuvraj Singh notched up his 46th ODI half century by hitting Anderson to the boundary as he combined with captain Mahendra
Singh Dhoni to maintain the run flow.
Both the batsmen, however, returned to the pavilion in quick succession as they tried to force the pace of scoring in the slog overs.
The tailenders also lost their wickets cheaply as India were all out in 49.5 overs.
Brief Scores:
India: 338 all out in 49.5 overs. (Sachin Tendulkar 120, Yuvraj Singh 58, Gautam Gambhir 51; Tim Bresnan 5/48).
England: 338 for eight in 50 overs. (Andrew Strauss 158, Ian Bell 69; Zaheer Khan 3/64, Munaf Patel 2/70)
Match Scorecard
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