4th ODI - IND Vs ENG

ROLLER COASTER TUSSLE ENDS IN A TIE
- By S.Ravichandran

With the tough task ahead of winning both the matches remaining to level the series 2-2, India took on England at Lord's, London on 11th September, 2011.

Once again England won the toss and decided to field, going by the trend in the series.  Moreover this being a Day Match. England expected some early life in the pitch.  There was indeed some help for the bowlers and the Indian openers struggled to score runs.  However, India didn't lose wickets in the beginning and a partnership of 65 between Parthiv Patel and Rahane was quite handy.  Rahane, who was a bit shaky, departed for 38 runs.  Dravid joined Patel.  Patel was out for 27 runs and Virat Kohli disappointed once again scoring just 16 runs.  Dravid was the next one to go scoring 19 runs.  India looked struggling at 110/4 when Raina and Dhoni decided to steady the ship, avoiding any further loss.  Their partnership of 169 runs helped India reach a formidable score of 280/5.  Raina was out for 84 runs while Dhoni remained unbeaten on 78.  Swann and Broad scalped 2 wickets apiece for England.

England's chase was unimpressive with Kieswetter departing for 12, followed by Cook who was out scoring same number of runs.  Trott made just 23 runs and England struggled at 61/3.  But a useful partnership between Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara took the score to 159 when Ian Bell was out caught at deep trying to loft Jadeja for a four.  Stokes who joined Bopara was trying his level best to get out and finally got out for 7 runs.  Bresnan joined Bopara and took the score to 220.  At this point Bresnan got out bowled by R.P.Singh.  Swann who joined Bopara played beautifully when rain interrupted play.  There was a high drama as the first interruption saw India leading D/L par score by 2 runs.  However rain stopped and play continued.  Just after one over from Munaf, another interruption came and this time England was leading D/L par score by 2 runs.  Tension mounted among the crowd and among the viewers.  Play continued once again.  With the drizzle dropping steadily England had to be careful scoring runs off every delivery, at the same time not losing any wicket, to stay ahead of D/L par score.  In the process they lost Swann who tried to steal a single and Ravi Bopara who tried to hit a boundary, caught at the deep by Ravindra Jadeja.  Bopara was unlucky to get out on 96.  At this point rain poured down once again and there was another stoppage of play.  England needed 11 runs off 7 deliveries with 2 wickets remaining. With Stuart Broad being injured and his chances of coming out to bat being doubtful, India seemed to have the upper hand at this stage of the match.

Play did not resume after this and the umpires decided to declare the match as Tied as the England's score was exactly equal to the D/L par score which is 270.  

A great match which fetched the best possible result as both the teams deserved to win the match for their excellent effort.  However it was a disappointment for India as England won the series 2-0 with one match remaining.

India should now play for pride.  They might very well play Varun Aaron and try to win the last match. Otherwise Dhoni and Company will have to return to India without a single win in the series.