England put up a decent fight in Kanpur today before India won in ultimately unsatisfactory circumstances to take a 3-0 lead in the seven-match one-day series.

When smog, which delayed the start of play for 45 minutes, returned to end the contest prematurely, the seemingly unstoppable hosts were comfortably ahead of schedule to claim a Duckworth/Lewis triumph by 16 runs. Chasing 240 all out, they had reached 198 for five with nine overs remaining.

England looked dismayed, especially as captain Kevin Pietersen and fellow spinner Samit Patel were bowling in harness at the time. And one flick of a switch, to turn on Green Park's unused floodlights, might have banished all talk of bad light.

Both teams knew the regulations and realised from practising at the ground yesterday that time was always likely to be an issue. Yet Pietersen still chose to bat first.

On top of that, despite new opener Ravi Bopara contributing 60 from 82 balls, a re-jigged England batting line-up failed to post a commanding total.

Yet having been walloped in Rajkot and Indore, England almost had to make some progress. Thankfully, they did.

Bopara, laid low yesterday by an upset stomach, enjoyed his elevation from No8; off-spinner Graeme Swann responded well after finally being given an outing in place of Steve Harmison; and Andrew Flintoff and Stuart Broad bowled with real aggression.

By reaching 79 inside 15 overs before the departure of Ian Bell, England gave themselves a good platform. They were strangled by the home spinners, though, with Harbhajan Singh starring this time by finishing with three for 31.

Pietersen, pushed up a place to No3, tried to impose himself by lifting Yuvraj Singh over long-on for six. An attempted repeat against Harbhajan ended in tears, however, with a miscue to Zaheer Khan at long-off (left).

A painfully out-of-touch Paul Collingwood was stumped groping forward at Harbhajan, Bopara's stay ended in similar fashion while trying to work Yuvraj to leg and Flintoff, as so often, found the spinners difficult to dominate. He managed only two fours in 45 balls before being pinned lbw by Yousuf Pathan.

Owais Shah and Samit Patel scored only 21 runs from the last four power-play overs and, as wickets fell regularly late on, England's innings finished with a whimper, not a flourish.

So Pietersen's team were up against it and their cause was not helped by Jimmy Anderson's expensive opening spell. Broad and Flintoff gritted their teeth, however, and made a game of it.

Gautam Gambhir sliced Flintoff to third-man and the two pacemen worked over Suresh Raina with short balls to such an extent that it was no surprise when he tentatively inside-edged Broad into his stumps.

Virender Sehwag refused to come quietly, however, and soon dealt with Swann in emphatic fashion by lifting him over mid-wicket for six.

But, far from buckling, Swann fought back well and thoroughly deserved the wicket of Rohit Sharma, who was caught while attempting to cut.

That success merely brought Yuvraj to the middle. There was no opportunity today for the left-hander to add to his centuries in Rajkot and Indore but he still did enough for India. By the time he top-edged a pull to give Flintoff his third wicket, the hosts knew they were well ahead of the required run-rate.