A series to savour

By Hafeez M Saheed

England kept their nerve in a tense finish as they won the sixth and final one-day international at the Wankhede Stadium by the narrow margin of five runs to tie the series at 3-3.

With everything to play for, England kept the same side that won the preceding match by two runs. Nasser Hussain won the toss and decided to bat. India got an early breakthrough when Nick Knight departed for a duck in the first over. It was left to the in-form Trescothick and the skipper to steady the innings. However, from 172 for 3, the often brittle middle-order collapsed to 174 for 7, a slump precipitated by the fall of Trescothick for 95 in 80 balls which was to later earn him the Man of the Match award. This was triggered mainly by the off spin of Harbhajan Singh, who ended with figures of 5 for 43. Relief came in the form of the hard-hitting Andrew Flintoff, who made a handy 40, as England were all out for 255 in 49.1 overs.

India was off to the usual rollicking start with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag going well over the required run rate. After losing both openers, Sourav Ganguly was very much on course to taking his team to victory, pacing his innings nicely in the company of Dinesh Mongia and then Mohammad Kaif, both of whom provided him good support. Ganguly's freak dismissal came when a ball from Ashley Giles hit the back of his bat and dislodged a bail after the Indian captain had made a very good 80. The tension mounted as England gnawed away, taking wickets and limiting the scoring. An accidental collision between Hussain and Harbhajan Singh and a ball change with only three overs remaining escalated the tension further. Hussain and his men though kept their cool until last man Javagal Srinath was bowled with the penultimate ball by Flintoff leaving India five runs short.

Overall the series was a most enthralling one and fittingly Sachin Tendulkar was named Man of the Series by match referee Denis Lindsay at his home ground. Other highlights of the series was the flamboyant hitting of Sehwag, the maturity of Andrew Flintoff, the impressive batting from Marcus Trescothick and Harbhajan Singh's effective off-spin. Both teams will still need to sort out their middle order if they are to become major contenders for next year's World Cup.

Hussain's leadership continues to impress. His squad would have learnt an awful lot on this tour. The packed grounds and the changing conditions would have provided a great experience to these players. It was a well played series and one day cricket cannot get any more exciting. Well done England and India!

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