India have played England in a one-dayer at Lord's only once?
(28 June 2002)

If one looks at past India-England one-day encounters at Lord's, one would be forced to bet big money on England as the teams prepare to clash at the venue once again in the NatWest series. England not only got the better of India on the sole previous occasion, but they did so by the humiliating defeat margin of 202 runs.

Taking the field for the first match of the 1975 Prudential World Cup, both teams must have been keen to prove their mettle in the cauldron of limited-overs cricket. Dennis Amiss certainly proved his as he smashed 137 off 147 balls in England's innings, aided and abetted by Keith Fletcher (68) and Chris Old (51 off 30 balls). The hosts made 334 for four in 60 overs at a rate highly respectable even in these evolved times.

India may have been down and out even as openers Sunil Gavaskar and Eknath Solkar strode out to reply, but their fans certainly expected more of a fight. Instead, Gavaskar seemed to forget that one-dayers could not be drawn by playing out time; grinding out the runs at a painful rate, he contrived to remain unbeaten throughout the 60 overs of the Indian innings, making 36 off 174 balls.

A slightly brisker rate was adopted by Gundappa Viswanath, who scored 37 off 59 balls and top-scored for the Indians. But it was to no avail. India crawled to 132 for three in their 60 overs - a loss that must surely still rankle for staunch fans of Indian cricket.

For more details on all the above facts check out [ StatsGuru ]

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