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India, England share points

By Our Special Correspondent

Chester-Le-Street July 5. India and England shared four points after the fifth league match of the NatWest Trophy III tri-series was abandoned because of rain. The umpires called off the match after making an inspection at 9. 30 p.m.

The Indians were keen to get on the with the game after the umpires David Shepherd and Dave Orchard stopped play with rain falling steadily. Even as Nasser Hussain and Nick Knight were on their way to the pavilion, the umpires called them back.

But after Ajit Agarkar had bowled three balls, the umpires made a firm decision to suspend play. Zaheer Khan who bowled a poor opening spell managed to dismiss Marcus Trescothik leg before. Thereafter Hussain and Knight struggled before rain intervened.

Earlier, the Indians provided a blazing finish to the first session at this picturesque cricket venue. Darren Gough sparked a dramatic start in the afternoon rapping India's captain Sourav Ganguly in front of the stumps and winning a leg before appeal from David Shepherd. Three-and-a-half hours later, Gough was bowling the last over, but this time he was not as lucky.

Yuveraj Singh, who had swung into action replacing Rahul Dravid in the middle, blasted 15 of the 16 as India showed its batting might and recovered from 52 for three in 10.2 overs to 285 for four in 50 overs.

The left-hander's 19-ball undefeated 40 with one 6 and four 4s gave a befitting conclusion to an outstanding middle order recovery — 169 for the fourth wicket — fashioned by Sachin Tendulkar, who scored his 32nd century in one-day Internationals and his first against England, and Rahul Dravid.

India's batting was not a revelation, but simply a reiteration of how it is putting its depth to good use. There was a sort of crisis as Gough picked up two quick wickets, but India pulled itself out of troubled waters in time. Dravid's batsmanship appeared like a work of art, but he was not able to end his essay with booming shots as Tendulkar did.

Take two highly motivated and competitive teams for a game of cricket to a typical English village kind of surroundings and the chances are one is likely to spend many happy hours there. The riverside venue resembles Toronto's Skating, Curling and Cricket Club.The ground looked pretty for a garden party, but when batsmen such as Tendulkar and Dravid pay a first visit to the beautiful venue, memorable innings from them should be the order of the day.

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