##INDIA VS ENG WORLDCUP THRILLER##SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

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[img]http://images.smh.com.au/2011/02/28/2206079/art_sachin_tendulkar-420x0.jpg[/img]
BANGALORE: India and England tied a thrilling World Cup clash on Sunday in a match yielding 676 runs and adorned by blistering centuries from Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Strauss.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score five centuries in World Cup matches.

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
England, chasing a World Cup record 339 to win, finished 8-338, having scored 13 runs off the last over when 14 were needed for victory.
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Zaheer Khan's dramatic three-wicket burst turned the match back in India's favour after England captain Strauss's man-of-the-match innings of 158.

Earlier, India great Tendulkar's record-breaking 120 made him the first man to score five World Cup hundreds.

Khan took three wickets for one run in six balls, including two in two, as England slumped from 2-281 to 5-285.
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Tim Bresnan (14) revived England's innings before he was bowled by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla to leave his side 8-325 and needing 14 off the last over from Munaf Patel.

Ajmal Shahzad launched Patel for six to leave England needing five from three balls in front of a frenzied crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Shahzad and Graeme Swann ran a single to make the target four from two. They ran two more to leave England requiring two for victory off the last ball.
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But they managed just a single to produce only the fourth tie in World Cup history.

"We were in a great position to win the game after 41, 42 overs. We had a shocking powerplay and from that stage onwards India were favourites to win the game," said Strauss.

"Ultimately it's been a great game of cricket, a great advert for the 50-over format. In some ways we're happy, in some ways we're distraught."
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India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised Zaheer for bringing India back into the contest by removing Bell, Strauss and Paul Collingwood in quick succession.

"Well you know the way they were going, I think they got off to a very good start, I think Andrew (Strauss) batted really well. There was a time I think where it seemed they were going to chase the score in 48, 49 overs," he said.

Strauss and Ian Bell (69) put on 170 for the third wicket before Khan had Bell holing out.

Next ball he had Strauss lbw with a brilliant yorker to end the left-handed opener's 145-ball innings featuring a six and 18 fours that beat his previous one-day best of 154 against Bangladesh last year.

Strauss hit the first hundred by an England captain at the World Cup and the highest score by an England batsman, beating the 137 by Dennis Amiss against India in the competition's inaugural match at Lord's in 1975.

England then needed 58 off 43 balls with two fresh batsmen at the crease but they were in the first over of the batting powerplay.

Khan then bowled Paul Collingwood and finished with three for 64.

There had been controversy when Strauss and Bell's partnership was worth just 52.

Left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh thought he had Bell lbw on review for 17, with replays showing the ball would have hit the stumps.

Bell had started to walk off but, because New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden's verdict was not out, the decision was returned to him by Australian replay official Rod Tucker and the Kiwi deemed Bell to be too far down the pitch.

But he enraged India fans who had seen Bell 'dismissed' on the giant replay screens.

An unruffled Strauss advanced to drive Yuvraj for a superb six before Bell completed a 45-ball fifty with a six when he swept leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

Bell was reprieved again on 68, with England 2-278 in the 42nd over, when he was dropped by slip Virat Kohli off Chawla.

Earlier, Tendulkar had faced 115 balls with 10 fours and five sixes.

Yuvraj ensured there was no respite for England with a quickfire 58.

James Anderson conceded 91 runs in 9.5 overs to give the paceman the most expensive analysis by an England bowler at the World Cup, beating Derek Pringle's none for 83 against the West Indies at Gujranwala in 1987.

But Bresnan picked up several late wickets to finish with career-best figures of five for 48.
[b]India skipper laments poor fielding[/b]
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes his team now understands the importance of fielding after being held to a tie by England, despite setting a daunting 339-run target in the World Cup on Sunday.

Dhoni conceded that a lot of runs had been leaked in the Group B game and that "with this tie, everyone in the team will realise that even one run can be important."

India was all out for 338 in 49.5 overs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, but poor fielding - including a few dropped catches - took the pressure off England, which made 338-8 in reply after scoring 13 in the final over.

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"All credit to England at the way they batted," Dhoni said. "I would not say our bowling was bad because we do have good bowlers.

"It was a thrilling match, because both teams were facing defeat or victory at some point."

Like his England counterpart Andrew Strauss, who hit 158, Dhoni could not decide whether to feel pleased or disappointed with the final outcome.

"I have mixed feelings after the result today," Dhoni said. "The wicket was better to bat on in the second innings. There was not much dew, but it still was difficult for the bowlers.

"I was pretty blank in the last over and only thought it was important to give Munaf Patel the field he was comfortable with."

The one certainty is that India will need to work on its performances in the field as the tournament continues.

"India has many strengths, but fielding definitely is not one of them," the skipper said.

Dhoni, a known critic of the Umpires Decision Review System, once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the system after Strauss' partner Ian Bell was not given out by umpire Billy Bowden after being struck on the pad when on 17.

Replays suggested the ball would have hit the stumps but since Bell was more than 2.5 metres down the track, the decision was referred back to Bowden as per the rules, and the batsman stayed.

Bell went on to add a further 52 runs.

"I am not happy with the UDRS system," Dhoni said. "I was once given out in the Champions Trophy when I was way down the track, but today it was different."

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