Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Strauss both smashed centuries as India and England fought out a dramatic run-laden, last-ball tie in a rollercoaster World Cup clash on Sunday. Tendulkar carved his name into the record books when he became the first man to make five World Cup centuries as India piled up 338 in the Group B match at Bangalore. Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Sehwag), 2-180 (Gambhir), 3-236 (Tendulkar), 4-305 (Yuvraj Singh), 5-305 (Dhoni), 6-327 (Pathan), 7-327 (Kohli), 8-328 (Harbhajan Singh), 9-338 (Chawla), 10-338 (Zaheer Khan)
But England hit back when Strauss hit a memorable 158 off 145 balls and Ian Bell made 69 to put their team within sight of a famous victory as they attempted to beat the previous best World Cup successful run chase of 313. They were well set at 281-2 before spearhead Zaheer Khan returned to dismiss Strauss and Bell in successive balls.
India then were favourites to win when England, with eight wickets down, needed 14 off the last over.
But Ajmal Shazhad hit a six off Munaf Patel's third ball before Graeme Swann took a single off the last delivery to ensure only the fourth tie in World Cup history and point apiece as England finished on 338-8.
"The way they started I definitely am happy with a tie," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "When they were two down, the bowlers were finding it very tough. 'Zak' changed it around for us." Strauss had mixed feelings over the outcome.
"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," he said, praising Swann and Shahzad for their efforts.
"We're happy and devastated at the same time but privileged to play in a game like this." Zaheer was stunned that 338 was not enough to win the match.
"I felt the wicket got better later on and Strauss batted damn well to put pressure on us and it was a cliffhanger until the end," he said.
"Obviously I was wanting the Indian team to win and felt that we would win the game easily but I guess it was a close contest between bat and ball."
Earlier, Tendulkar, playing in a sixth World Cup, made 120 and nipped ahead of compatriot Sourav Ganguly and Australian duo Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting on four centuries. It was also his 47th career ODI hundred.
The 37-year-old 'Little Master' faced 115 balls and smashed 10 fours and five sixes.
Tendulkar struck Paul Collingwood for two sixes, the second of which took him to a 66-ball fifty, before going on to reach his century off 103 balls when he glanced Tim Bresnan for four. He also shared a second-wicket stand of 134 with Gautam Gambhir (51) while Yuvraj Singh smashed 58.
James Anderson eventually dismissed Tendulkar, but it was the seamer's only success on a grim afternoon when he finished with 1-91, the worst World Cup performance by an England bowler.
Meanwhile, Pakistan sit proudly on top of Group A after an 11-run win over Sri Lanka on Saturday in Colombo gave them two wins in two matches. Captain Shahid Afridi anchored the win with figures of 4-34 to restrict Sri Lanka - chasing Pakistan's score of 277-7 - to 266-9 at R. Premadasa stadium.
"It's a very big win for us," said Afridi, who also completed 300 one-day wickets in his 314th one-day international. "This will raise the morale of the players."
There was a minor setback for the Pakistanis on Sunday when they were fined 10 per cent of their match fee for a slow over-rate while Afridi was hit with a 20 per cent sanction.
On Monday, the West Indies, who were defeated in their opener by South Africa, tackle the Netherlands in New Delhi while Zimbabwe meet Canada in Nagpur.
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INDIA:
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V. Sehwag c Prior b Bresnan 35
S. Tendulkar c Yardy b Anderson 120
G. Gambhir b Swann 51
Yuvraj Singh c Bell b Yardy 58
MS Dhoni c sub (Wright) b Bresnan 31
Yusuf Pathan c Swann b Bresnan 14
V. Kohli b Bresnan 8
Harbhajan Singh lbw b Bresnan 0
Zaheer Khan run out (Strauss/Prior) 4
Piyush Chawla run out (Anderson) 2
M. Patel not out 0
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Extras: (lb3, nb5, w7) 15
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Total: (all out, 49.5 overs) 338
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Bowling: Anderson 9.5-0-91-1 (1nb, 1w); Shahzad 8-0-53-0 (2w); Bresnan 10-1-48-5; Swann 9-1-59-1 (2w); Collingwood 3-0-20-0; Yardy 10-0-64-1 (2w);
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ENGLAND:
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A. Strauss lbw b Zaheer Khan 158
K. Pietersen c and b Patel 31
J. Trott lbw b Chawla 16
I. Bell c Kohli b Zaheer Khan 69
P. Collingwood b Zaheer Khan 1
M. Prior c b Harbhajan Singh 4
M. Yardy c Sehwag b Patel 13
T. Bresnan b Chawla 14
G. Swann not out 15
A. Shahzad not out 6
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Extras: (b1, lb7, w3) 11
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Total: (8 wkts, 50 overs) 338
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Did not bat: J Anderson
Fall of wickets: 1-68 (Pietersen), 2-111 (Chawla), 3-281 (Bell), 4-281 (Strauss), 5-285 (Collingwood), 6-289 (Prior), 7-307 (Yardy), 8-325 (Bresnan)
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 10-0-64-3 (1w); Patel 10-0-70-2 (1w); Chawla 10-0-71-2 (1w); Harbhajan Singh 10-0-58-1; Yuvraj Singh 7-0-46-0; Yusuf Pathan 3-0-21-0 Result: Match tied
Man-of-the-match: Andrew Strauss (ENG)
Toss: India
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Marais Erasmus (RSA) TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI).
World Cup standings
-- Standings (played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run rate) Group A
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Pakistan 2 2 0 0 0 4 +2.160
Australia 2 2 0 0 0 4 +1.813
Sri Lanka 2 1 1 0 0 2 +1.990
New Zealand 2 1 1 0 0 2 +1.507
Zimbabwe 1 0 1 0 0 0 -1.820
Canada 1 0 1 0 0 0 -4.200
Kenya 2 0 2 0 0 0 -4.897
Group B
India 2 1 0 1 0 3 +0.870
England 2 1 0 1 0 3 +0.126
South Africa 1 1 0 0 0 2 +0.766
Bangladesh 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.600
Netherlands 1 0 1 0 0 0 -0.242
Ireland 1 0 1 0 0 0 -0.540
West Indies 1 0 1 0 0 0 -0.766
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