India v England 2008-09
Wisden's review of India v England, 5th ODI, 2008-09
Richard Hobson
15-Apr-2009
At Cuttack, November 26, 2008 (day/night). India won by six wickets. Toss: India.
Owais Shah and Kevin Pietersen's unbroken century-stand was in vain•Getty Images
In what proved to be the final game of the series, India, having rested Gambhir and Munaf
Patel, mocked what history suggested was a challenging target of 271 by winning with 38 balls
to spare.
Pietersen responded to his own call for an England batsman to score a hundred, despite
a cracked rib, but the injury may have contributed towards a failure to accelerate: his first fifty
came from 59 balls, with seven fours, the second from 60, with two fours and a six. The Indian
seam attack also bowled tightly during the final powerplay, conceding only 32 runs between the
40th and 45th overs. Shah, England's brightest spot in a dreadful fortnight, outscored his captain
with 66 from 57 balls in their unbroken stand of 112.
But England sprayed the new ball wastefully,
offering Tendulkar and Sehwag every chance to cut. Sehwag scored his fourth fifty of the series,
from 41 balls, and was unlucky to be given out nine short of a hundred. With Yuvraj Singh
dismissed the previous ball, England had a sniff, especially with uneven bounce at one end, but
they proved unable to build pressure on Dhoni and Raina.
Man of the Match: V. Sehwag.
Man of the Series: Yuvraj Singh.
Man of the Series: Yuvraj Singh.