New Delhi: Despite a sterling performance by the batsmen, the Indians managed to scrape past England by nine runs to square the series 1-1 in the second One-Day International of the NatWest Series at Bristol on Friday.
A vintage 99 from Sachin Tendulkar and a quickfire 92 from just 63 balls from skipper Rahul Dravid guided India to 329 for seven, before England matched with equal force only to fall short at the last hurdle.
Replying to India's massive total, England openers Alastair Cook (36) and Matt Prior (33) got off to an excellent start, putting on a quickfire 76 runs together in 10.5 overs.
The opening pair hit 14 boundaries in 10 overs but then Munaf Patel got the breakthrough for India and saw off both the openers in consecutive balls to bring the visitors back on top.
England, meanwhile, had their share of luck with a number of straightforward catches as well as tough went down. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were both dropped and managed to put on 50 in 43 balls.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla then struck a double blow as he bowled out Pietersen with his second delivery for 25, and then ended skipper Paul Collingwood's stay in the same fashion for 27, leaving the English chase on 176-4.
Ramesh Powar, too, got into the act as he dismissed Andrew Flintoff for nine, as England were reduced to 185-5.
England, however, kept pace as Ravinder Bopara and Ian Bell accounted for quick runs to take up their tally to 220, before Bopara departed in the form of Munaf Patel's third wicket for 17.
Bell, who scored a century in the first game, managed 64 runs before he was caught in the deep off Piyush Chawla to leave the hosts with the lower order exposed.
Dimitri Mascarenas got England within striking distance of the Indian total, as the all-rounder brought up a 50-run eighth wicket partnership in just 36 balls. Mascarenas' efforts, though, came to a halt in the 49th over with England still needing 31 runs.
Stuart Broad slammed two sixes in the last over off Munaf Patel, but the visitors managed to hold on and keep England out by a mere nine runs.
Earlier, Indian captain Rahul Dravid won the toss for the second time in the series and elected to have a bat, after his decision to bowl first was hotly debated as India were crushed at Southampton.
Openers Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar started on a strong note after seeing off the initial overs without losing a wicket, bringing up their 50-run partnership in the 13th over.
Tendulkar was the more aggressive of the duo, bringing up his half-century from 56 balls. Ganguly picked up the tempo when he slammed a six and a four off consecutive balls off Andrew Flintoff in the 17th over.
England had their first breakthrough in the 20th over when Ganguly spooned a catch off Tremlett for 39, leaving India one down for 113.
Tendulkar, however, remained unperturbed as he motored along with a flurry of boundaries around the ground.
Tendulkar, however, was denied a century only a run short for 99 as he was adjudged to to have nicked a bouncer off Andrew Flintoff with the Indians on 180 for two.
Skipper Rahul Dravid joined Yuvraj Singh in the middle, who too continued to find the boundaries frequently. Yuvraj failed to register a half-century as he was out for 49, but Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni pushed the tempo up to be set for a total beyond 300.
India lost five wickets in the last 10 overs of their innings, but had already gained enough momentum to set up a target of 330 for the hosts. Andrew Flintoff celebrated his return to ODIs with a five-wicket haul, while Chris Tremlett gave away 73 runs from his nine overs.
India lost the opening match of the seven-match series by 104 runs on Tuesday.
Left-arm Indian pacer Zaheer Khan was left out of the side because of flu, while England replaced Monty Panesar with Chris Tremlett. India also replaced Gautam Gambhir with off-spinner Ramesh Powar, the fifth bowler for the visitors.
Teams:
India: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, R P Singh.
England: Alistair Cook, Matt Prior, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood (captain), Ravi Bopara, Dimitri Mascarenas, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett.