Bangalore: Andrew Strauss conjured one of the greatest innings in World Cup history after Sachin Tendulkar's master-class as England, pursuing a daunting 339, achieved a sensational tie here on Sunday.
The humdinger at the Chinnaswamy Stadium hurtled to pulse-pounding conclusion. England required 14 with two wickets remaining from the last over of this explosive Group ‘B' encounter.
Amidst tension and suspense, Graeme Swann collected a brace off the first delivery from seamer Munaf Patel and then took a single. Situations throw up heroes and Ajmal Shamshad blasted the third ball for a six between the straight field and long-on.
With Swann giving a start, the batsmen completed a quick bye from the fourth delivery. Swann then inside-edged Munaf for a couple and ran a single off the final delivery. What a finish!
In the 49th over, Swann had swept leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for the maximum. Then Tim Bresnan, who scalped five earlier in the day with telling yorkers and clever changes of pace at the death, biffed Chawla for a six over mid-wicket.
Chawla, who conceded 15 runs in that over, castled Bresenan with a quicker one off the last ball but England now was within striking distance.
Eventually, Strauss's heroic 145-ball 158 did not go in vain. The England captain, who lived a dream in the cauldron, was adjudged Man of the Match. This was the fourth tie in the World Cup and the two sides picked a point each.
On a belter of a track, the bowling limitations of both the sides had been exposed. The batsmen were not complaining.
In the afternoon, Sachin Tendulkar had held centre-stage with an ethereal 115-ball 120 — this was the maestro's 47th ODI century. Tendulkar, with five, has the most World Cup hundreds now.
Then Strauss took control. His innings was of the blood and guts kind. The England captain was not bothered by the pressures of the chase and remained undaunted by adversity.
The left-hander's fluency in stroke-making — he was exceptional square off the wicket on either side and flicked with panache — and his commitment shone through in an exceptional innings.
India would rue the lapse when Harbhajan Singh floored a tough chance at mid-on. Strauss was on 22 then and Munaf was the bowler to suffer.
Strauss and the determined Ian Bell — the left-right pair put on 170 for the third wicket — seemed to take the game away from India.
Zaheer strikes
Zaheer Khan struck in the nick of time. Taken apart by Kevin Pietersen in his first spell, the crafty left-arm paceman delivered two vital blows in the 43rd over; also the first over of the batting Power Play.
Bell (69) was held at mid-off and then a scorching yorker ended Strauss's tenure. Not much later, Paul Collingwood was done in by Zaheer's clever change of pace. It was advantage India, but England scripted an escape.
Not without drama
The gripping contest was not without drama. When on 17, Bell charging down was beaten on the sweep by Yuvraj Singh's left-arm spin. Umpire Bille Bowden ruled not out.
India asked for a referral. Although the replays showed the ball hitting the off-stump, Bowden's decision stood since the law stipulates that if the point of impact is more than two and a half metres from the stumps the standing umpire's decision cannot be reversed.
In the initial overs, Pietersen blitzed a rapid 31 before being spectacularly held by bowler Munaf Patel on his second attempt. Jonathan Trott played across to Chawla to be adjudged leg-before.
Earlier, Tendulkar's brush strokes painted the arena. A particular stroke off paceman Jimmy Anderson stood out. This was a maestro's legerdemain.
Anderson had a cover, a mid-off and a sweeper cover, yet Sachin Tendulkar bisected the field with exquisite timing and placement to find the cover fence.
On view was a heady amalgam of footwork, balance and last-minute adjustment of hand and wrists as the ball was driven through the slender gap, past desperately diving fielders.
Years fall away when Tendulkar finds his batting rhythm; he ruthlessly dismissed Swann and Collingwood beyond the ropes.
An England attack without the indisposed Stuart Broad narrowed its horizons after India elected to bat. Apart from the tireless Tim Bresnen, the attack suffered.
The script might have different had England struck off the first ball. With static feet, Sehwag followed an James Anderson delivery deviating away but Graeme Swann could not cling on to a tough offering at second slip.
Sehwag lived dangerously before attempting to glide a Bresnan delivery for 'keeper Matthew Prior to hold a fine diving catch to his right.
The right-left combination of Tendulkar and a fleet-footed Gautam Gambhir (51) raised 134 for the second wicket.
Yuvraj Singh, rightly promoted up the order, essayed a few booming blows, driving, pulling and lofting the bowlers for a well-made 50-ball 58.
Dhoni came up an entertaining 32 but India, going for quick runs, lost wickets in the end overs.
Finally, the crowd witnessed a thriller of an extraordinary kind.
SCOREBOARD
India: V. Sehwag c Prior b Bresnan 35 (26b, 6x4), S. Tendulkar c Yardy b Anderson 120 (115b, 10x4, 5x6), G. Gambhir b Swann 51 (61b, 5x4), Yuvraj c Bell b Yardy 58 (50b, 9x4), M.S. Dhoni c (sub) Wright b Bresnan 31 (25b, 3x4, 1x6), Y. Pathan c Swann b Bresnan 14 (8b, 1x4, 1x6), V. Kohli b Bresnan 8 (5b, 1x4), Harbhajan lbw b Bresnan 0 (1b), Zaheer (run out) 4 (5b), P. Chawla (run out) 2 (4b), M. Patel (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb-3, w-7, nb-5): 15; Total (in 49.5 overs): 338.
Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Sehwag), 2-180 (Gambhir), 3-236 (Tendulkar), 4-305 (Yuvraj), 5-305 (Dhoni), 6-327 (Pathan), 7-327 (Kohli), 8-328 (Harbhajan), 9-338 (Chawla).
England bowling: Anderson 9.5-0-91-1, Shahzad 8-0-53-0, Bresnan 10-1-48-5, Swann 9-1-59-1, Collingwood 3-0-20-0, Yardy 10-0-64-1.
England: A. Strauss lbw b Zaheer 158 (145b, 18x4, 1x6), K. Pietersen c & b Munaf 31 (22b, 5x4), J. Trott lbw b Chawla 16 (19b, 1x4), I. Bell c Kohli b Zaheer 69 (71b, 4x4, 1x6), P. Collingwood b Zaheer 1 (5b), M. Prior c (sub) Raina b Harbhajan 4 (8b), M. Yardy c Sehwag b Munaf 13 (10b, 1x4), T. Bresnan b Chawla 14 (9b, 1x6), G. Swann (not out) 15 (9b, 1x6), A. Shahzad (not out) 6 (2b, 1x6); Extras (b-1, lb-7, w-3): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 50 overs): 338.
Fall of wickets: 1-68 (Pietersen), 2-111 (Trott), 3-281 (Bell), 4-281 (Strauss), 5-285 (Collingwood), 6-289 (Prior), 7-307 (Yardy), 8-325 (Bresnan).
India bowling: Zaheer 10-0-64-3, Munaf 10-0-70-2, Chawla 10-0-71-2, Harbhajan 10-0-58-1, Yuvraj 7-0-46-0, Pathan 3-0-21-0.
'Shane Warne a genius to have predicted India vs England tie'
He was a genius with the ball and England captain Andrew Strauss said Shane Warne proved as much a genius with predictions by correctly forecasting that the pulsating India-England match would end in a tie even before the players had walked out on the field.
"I think Warne is a genius to have predicted that way (a tie). What more can I say," said Strauss after the nerve-wrecking encounter in which his team was set a mammoth 339-run target by the Indians.
Riding on Strauss' magnificent 158, the Englishmen ended the match even-stevens to snatch a point.
But much before even the first ball was bowled, Warne had predicted on his twitter page that the match would be a tie.
"Looking forward to the game between India and England today should be a cracker. My prediction - a tie!"
Soon after the thriller, Warne posted another tweet in which he said, "Before u think there was something untoward re prediction of a tie, thought it was going to be a cracker - tie was tongue in cheek - but right."