The middle part of the day - England's recovery from a poor start to post what seemed to be a challenging total - went swimmingly. Unfortunately for England, the sharks barged in at the beginning and the end, and brusquely bit the match away. The plusses for England were all in the batting department. Ronnie Irani batted as if he'd been rescuing major England collapses throughout his career. Owais Shah looked good, chipping and charging as if he'd been watching Tim Henman single-handedly Thai-breaking in the Davis Cup. Nick Knight returned to a semblance of his best one-day form, although he will long curse giving it away just after he reached 50.

Then there was Ian Blackwell, who smashed it around as if he was playing a routine Somerset game rather than completing his final audition for the World Cup. It was more blacksmith than Blackwell as he strong-armed three deliveries into the crowd, clean, muscular shots that would have been six anywhere. His left-arm spin might just lack the pace and the variations to be terribly effective at one-day level, but the batting should make up for that.

And that is about the extent of the good news, if you discount the ever-hopeful Alec "Get it, run him out" Stewart. England's bowling was uninspired, and the fielding ordinary. It just wasn't England's day in the field: three or four catches lobbed up out of the reach of perspiring fielders. Ashley Giles escorted a couple to the boundary in stately fashion. Most worryingly of all Andy Caddick, who looked as if he had splashed a bottle of Grecian 2000 onto his greying locks, was lucky not to take 0 for 2000.

If Virender Sehwag had batted first, India might even have made that many. He doesn't care if he edges one or slogs it crudely - the next ball is just as likely to tracer-bullet through the covers. England thought Tendulkar was the danger man before this game, but by the end the bowlers were thinking how nice it was to bowl at him instead of his doppelganger Sehwag.

In the end this match turned out to be that bridge too far that Nasser Hussain talked about during the Oval Test. The silver lining, if there is one, is that England can come home early and relax - for a week or two, at least, until the plane leaves for Australia.

Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden.com.

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