Shattered England were forced into submission here today, soundly beaten by another mighty century from Little Master' Sachin
Tendulkar and their own failure with the ball.

Kevin Pietersen and his team arrived at the ground this morning believing they could seal a famous victory. Instead, like 30,000 spectators, the visitors could only salute Tendulkar and an Indian side that made an apparently daunting victory target of 387 look ridiculously easy.

When Tendulkar hit the winning runs — and completed century No 41 in the process — with an hour to spare, India had not only won by six wickets but also achieved the fourth highest fourth-innings run chase in 130 years of Test cricket and the highest on the sub-contient.

The crowd erupted as their hero swept Graeme Swann for a cake-topping ninth boundary and Pietersen's men hid their disappointment long enough to shake the hand of a 35-year-old who keeps going from strength to strength.

This match seemed unlikely to be played following the terror attack on Mumbai — and an England triumph would have been remarkable, given the security-dominated build-up and all the uncertainty. But it was a pretty amazing success for India, too, and no one should begrudge them it.

They promised they would try to restore a smile to the nation's face, and there was no shortage of beaming grins here following the victory, with Mumbai boy Tendulkar doing so much to make it all possible.

International cricket's all-time leading run-scorer was talking about a lot more than a Test match when, in a TV message repeated endlessly since the Mumbai killings, he told his countrymen: “More than ever I am playing for India.” But, coming to the crease today with his country on 141 for two and the game in the balance, all they wanted from him was another masterpiece.

Tendulkar, as so often, did not disappoint. Yuvraj Singh was his perfect partner in an unbroken and largely unruffled stand of 163, but it was the little fella at the other end who broke visiting hearts and wore down their resolve, and he did it without doing anything extravagant.

With Steve Harmison given just six overs, despite assurances about his fitness, and Monty Panesar struggling for rhythm, Pietersen was short of options on a pitch that was tricky but never remotely unplayable. Six times he turned to Andrew Flintoff, and six times the talisman tried his heart out, but three wickets were all England had to show for their efforts.

Virender Sehwag picked up the man-of-the-match award for yesterday's electrifying 83 that turned a slow burner of a game into something special. But Tendulkar collected the thanks of his nation — the newspaper here that advised its readers to “bunk office” and get down to the ground this morning could not have got it more right.

India's fans, who cheered every single today and almost brought the house down when a boundary was scored, never lost faith that the target would be reached while England and their small band of travelling supporters soon found themselves clutching at straws despite a promising start.

Flintoff's eighth ball of the morning did for Rahul Dravid, who edged a routine catch behind after pushing stiffly forward, and The Wall' is now in grave danger of losing his place in Mohali on Friday after a sequence of just two half-centuries in 18 Test innings.

One legend gone, another walking in, though. And while Tendulkar twice played and missed at Flintoff, he was soon looking in the mood for business.

The Little Master' swept Swann, quickly removing one close fielder, and then Gautam Gambhir cut Panesar to the rope as India made ominous progress. Send for Harmison? Not a bit of it. While he grazed in the outfield, Jimmy Anderson not only entered the attack but also struck a badly needed blow for the tourists.

Gambhir gave himself a good ticking off after swishing at Anderson. Yet, three balls later, he tried the same shot to a delivery angled across him for Paul Collingwood to hold a good, tumbling catch away to his right in the gully.

One more wicket before lunch would have seen England installed as favourites. Instead, Laxman began driving fluently — even against the returning Flintoff — and Panesar was forced to bowl over the wicket and into the rough in an attempt to stem the tide.

With India needing 174 from the last two sessions,
Pietersen had to probe, rather than press, for a wicket. That required Panesar to continue his negative line to the two right-handers while Swann went for glory. And it worked a treat when Laxman, undone by Swann's off break, turned a ball off the face of the bat to short leg.

At 224 for four this gripping match appeared to be under England's control again. But, with Test cricket's all-time leading run-scorer in the middle, India, and their increasingly excited fans, were still brimful of hope.

And no wonder. Although the pitch looked like an excavation site, it was still too slow and too reliable, in terms of bounce, for the bowlers.

Then, of course, there was the Yuvraj factor. The left-hander who started last month's one-day series with two blistering centuries powered Swann through the covers when he was too short, then advanced on Panesar to drive another wounding boundary.

It had to be Harmison now. The Durham fast bowler tweaked his right knee on the second day but England could not afford any passengers and Harmison almost came up with some magic, rightly losing a very tight lbw verdict when hitting Tendulkar above the knee roll.

While India's No4 takes everything in his stride, England were trying to target Yuvraj's temperament by winding him up. Harmison threw the ball towards the batsman when he was clearly in his crease, then Flintoff followed through to deliver a long stare and a few words.

Nothing worked, however, and Pietersen went back to Swann after Harmison had bowled four overs for five runs. But when the off-spinner had a decent lbw shout against Yuraj turned down, the only remaining option was to take the second new ball with 67 runs needed.

Nothing was going to stop India now, though, and Tendulkar's final blow of a 196-ball innings was the perfect finish.