Dravid drives India home in a Lord's thriller

NatWest Series: England rue their failure to build on a blistering start as tourists show the way to build a run chase

What a difference 27 years makes. India illuminated the world's greatest ground yesterday with some outstanding batsmanship which not only thrilled a capacity crowd, but also made another persuasive statement about the merits of one-day cricket and won them the second match of the NatWest Series by six wickets.

It also finally laid to rest the spectre of 1975 – the last and only match between the sides at Lord's – and embodied how far the shorter form of the game has come.

Then, in the inaugural World Cup, India made a woeful 132 for 3 from 60 overs (heavens, how long the short game was) in pursuit of England's total of 334 for 4. It left spectators in a state of bewilderment. What on earth were they at? What they were at yesterday was pursuing with nervelessness and exemplary clean hitting a commendable England total of 271 for 7. It could be said that it was worth the wait. A robust platform, provided by a century opening partnership in which Virender Sehwag produced some outrageous flourishes, appeared on the verge of floundering on the rocks of some excellent England catching.

Four wickets were down and the illustrious creatures, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, had been dispatched. Rahul Dravid, in the side as a wicketkeeper now to ensure his batting berth, came together with Yuvraj Singh. In 21 overs they put on 131 for the fifth wicket, always keeping the throttle open and accelerating seamlessly towards the end.

Dravid's exquisite strokeplay is well known but England have scant knowledge of Yuvraj. He is only 20 and made a big reputation when he was 18 in Kenya by scoring 84 in 80 balls against Australia in the ICC Knockout Tournament.

He made it look easy, but as it often does the game caught up with him and he was rested a while. Yesterday he re-entered the race and made more headway. He took 65 balls for his 64, always in charge. It was fearlessly pristine striking. Already having taken three wickets with his left-arm spin, his best figures, he was a shoo-in for man of the match.

Had Dravid, whose 73 took 86 balls, not been dropped by Alec Stewart when he was only 23 it might, who knows, have turned out differently. It was a hard chance to the wicketkeeper's right, but easier than two already taken in the outfield by Marcus Trescothick and James Kirtley.

The result leaves this triangular series wide open. India play Sri Lanka at The Oval today and a win for the latter would leave the tournament even. This could be the highlight of the summer. At least England are already in much better fettle than last season when they lost all six matches in a run of 11 straight defeats.

Their captain, Nasser Hussain, said: "We had a good chance, but we were 20 or 30 runs short. We turned a score they couldn't get into one they could get." For that Hussain himself is partly culpable.

The home side made a blistering start through their cavalier opening pair, Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight. For a while anything seemed possible. The left-handed duo took on the hard new ball and also launched into the potentially troublesome spinners with some glee.

When Knight was run out as he was entering his stride the momentum was not stilled immediately. Trescothick continued on his merry way and Nasser Hussain, at No 3, seemed bustling enough. But what you think you see with Hussain in international one-day cricket is not always what you get.

Slowly the problem emerged, as it has tended to do throughout Hussain's one-day career. Three more wickets fell, but not the captain. Trescothick went for 86 off 78 balls, Andrew Flintoff, up and down the order like a tart's drawers, holed out, Graham Thorpe, too low, cut to gully.

Hussain reached 54 in 82 balls, his 13th one-day fifty, which meant he had to stay so the others could play around him. He did not, as he has often not before. Hussain becomes agitated at criticism of his one-day batting but his run rate of 66 runs every 100 balls is the lowest among all contemporary recognised batsmen.

It is true that a great player like Graham Gooch had a strike rate of only 61 but the game was different then. This theme of Hussain seems to have been around as long as the one which introduces Coronation Street. It is certainly as monotonous, which does not mean either is going away.

Sehwag, new to English audiences, was wondrous to behold at the start of the reply. It was electrifying stuff. But England replied with gusto, Trescothick catching Sehwag, flinging himself full length on the midwicket boundary.

That galvanised the English, both players and crowd. Before long Dinesh Mongia had essayed a dreadful leg-side swipe at Ashley Giles and was bowled. This brought in Tendulkar himself. He had hardly bedded in when Ronnie Irani bowled him an off-cutter which the great man missed. The lbw verdict was sound enough and the bowler ran down the pitch in understandable exultation. To some, uncertain of his international credentials, the Essex all-rounder is now known as Ronnie "Bloody" Irani. But getting out the world's greatest batsman at Lord's is answer enough. Still, it was tempting to remind Irani, who bumped into the batsman as he ran down the pitch that the crowd had come to see Tendulkar bat and not Irani bowl.

Nor was that all for England. James Kirtley took a spectacular one-handed diving catch at long-on to remove Ganguly. It was looking good for England but then came some more prodigious batting.

The drop by Stewart was unwelcome as he dived to his right. The ball hit the glove, he could not clench the fist round it. These things happen. What might have been said had it been James Foster, not the 39-year-old comeback kid? Just a thought. India have come a long, long way in 27 years.