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England combat the weather to take series to decider
Sixth Natwest ODI, The Oval:
England 139/7 (25.2 overs) beat India 138/4 (35 overs) by 3 wickets (D/L Method)
Match Scorecard
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England rallied from two straight defeats to level the series at 3-3, forcing the series into a decider
at Lord's on Saturday.
Rain threatened to force an abandonment at the start of play but it only resulted in reducing both innings'
to 35 overs each. India lumbered to 138/4, the pitch making a nuisance of itself despite the lack of wickets.
In reply, the hosts found scoring a lot easier, and despite the loss of 7 wickets, came home with just under
10 overs to spare.
Rahul Dravid top scored for India with a slowly crafted 44* from 74 deliveries. Ganguly looked out of sorts on
his return to the side following suspension, scoring at a strike rate of 34.69 for his 17.
Tremlett, Flintoff, Panesar and Collingwood took a wicket each in a bowling performance of the highest quality.
Panesar was the most economic of the five bowlers used, conceding just 18 runs from his 7 overs.
Michael Lumb hit 23 at the top of the innings to get England on there way, and despite not one big score from
the English batsmen, they cruised home with Prior hitting the winning runs.
The only English batsman that failed to make it into double figures was Kevin Pietersen. He departed for just 2,
nicking one behind to MS Dhoni off the bowling of Irfan Pathan. Pathan looked dangerous, but the rest of
the bowling attack failed to impress. Dravid decided to use Robin Uthappa and Sachin Tendulkar, both part-time
bowlers, ahead of the impressive spinners Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar.
Neither side has been ahead in the series by more than one game setting up an ideal situation in the final match
at Lord's.
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