England fall short in mammoth chase

Rahul Dravid's men overcame a flu bug which swept through their camp on Thursday to post a mammoth 329 for seven, including an unbeaten 92 from the captain and Sachin Tendulkar's 99.

Having chosen to omit left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, England's one-paced attack was flogged, although Andrew Flintoff finished with career-best figures of five for 56.

When openers Matt Prior and Alastair Cook raced to 76 without loss in the 11th over, England appeared on course to push the chase to the wire.

But returning fast bowler Munaf Patel removed them both in consecutive deliveries and the Indian spinners put the squeeze on in mid-innings with regular wickets.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, just 18, claimed three for 60 including the vital wickets of Kevin Pietersen with his second ball and Paul Collingwood, both deceived by the googly and bowled through the gap between bat and pad.

Ian Bell, a centurion in Tuesday's victory at the Rose Bowl, passed 50 once again until he holed out in the deep.

Dimitri Mascarenhas' late six-hitting spree then delivered him a maiden international half-century from only 36 balls but England fall just short.