Top three England vs India ODI of the current decade

#1 India vs England, Group Stage Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

A magician with the old ball.

Date:- 27 February 2011

Venue:- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

The 2011 World Cup was coming back to the subcontinent after 15 years (last held in 1996), and much was riding on the Indian team to deliver the goods this time around, and fulfill the long-standing (28 years) aspirations of a billion people and off-course that of the Master Blaster- Sachin Tendulkar.

India started their campaign with a thumping win against co-hosts Bangladesh and headed into their second game of the tournament against England, in a bid to stamp their authority on the event with another complete performance. India batted first, and Sehwag (35 off 26 balls) and set the tone for the Men in Blue with a first-ball boundary against Jamie Anderson.

He departed for a brisk 26-ball-35, but gritty contributions from Gambhir (51), Yuvraj (58), and MS Dhoni (31) meant that the Master Blaster could play his own game, as he en-route to his 98th international ton (120 off 115 balls) plummeted the English bowlers to all corners of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Tendulkar's wicket brought about a mini-collapse as Tim Bresnan's 5-48 restricted India to 338 in 49.5 overs. Chasing 339, English openers in Kevin Pieterson (68) and Andrew Strauss (158) got the poms to a rollicking start, having racked up 68 in the first ten overs. Munaf Patel accounted for Pieterson and Trott followed suit at 16 to leave England in a precarious position- 2-111 in 16.4 overs.

But, little had India realized it was to be a start of an arduous sojourn as Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell launched a stunning counter-attacking onslaught. Strauss en-route to career-best 158 stitched a -run partnership with Bell to take England to the brink.

But, just as it seemed the game was drifting away from India, entered Zaheer Khan. Zaheer reversed the bowl both ways to nip out Bell, Strauss, and Collingwood in a jiffy to bring parity to the contest.

England tumbled from 2-281 to 6-289 in a matter of three overs but late strikes from Bresnan (14) and Swann (15) left Munaf Patel with 14 to defend off the last six balls. Shahzad stroked a six on the third ball but eventually, Munaf kept his cool to ensure a historic tie in front of anxious Bengaluru fans.

Result:- Match Tied

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