While the 2011 World Cup produced several exciting contests, nothing matched the rollercoaster ride of England throughout the league stage. Each of their six league matches produced close contests, but none closer than the one against eventual champions India.
The match had to be moved from Eden Gardens, Kolkata, for the ground was, at that point, not ready. The venue was shifted to M Chinnaswamy Stadium. While the pundits acknowledged that the teams were closely matched, Shane Warne went a step ahead and tweeted that it would be a tie. How prophetic it turned out to be!
MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat. As he would throughout the league stage, Virender Sehwag hit a boundary off the first ball. He was coming off a destructive 175 in the previous match against Bangladesh. Here, he provided early momentum to India before he tried to glide Tim Bresnan and was caught behind.
Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir took control from there. Tendulkar presented a batting masterclass with his vicious cuts and pulls. The highlight of his innings was the two back-to-back sixes off Graeme Swann. Gambhir got 51 before being dismissed by Swann. The pair added 134.
Tendulkar went on to reach his 47th ODI hundred. He batted effortlessly before top-edging James Anderson for a 115-ball 120. The wicket changed the course of the match as England gained control. Less than four years after his famous 58 against England, Yuvraj Singh again slammed 58 against them, this time off 50 balls; but India were all out for 338 in the 50th over as Bresnan finished with 5-48. They would have wanted more, but it was a reasonable score, and the Indian bowlers must have been confident of defending that.
But the English opening pair of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen had a different plan. They started aggressively, and put the Indian opening bowlers Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel under pressure from the start. Some wayward bowling did not help either. Pietersen raced to 31 before his drive was freakishly caught by Munaf in his follow through.
The loss of his opening partner did not impact Strauss, who continued to play shots around the ground. After a brief innings from Jonathan Trott, Strauss found an able ally in Ian Bell. Strauss went past his hundred, then 150, and the pair added 170. At one point England needed only 58 with more than seven overs in hand. It was their game to lose.
Dhoni recalled Zaheer as the last throw of the dice. The experienced Zaheer had not had a good first spell, but now, with the old ball he came to his elements. He held one back, nearly forcing Bell to hole out at mid off; then, with the next ball, he yorked Strauss; and in the next over, he bowled Paul Collingwood with his famous knuckle-ball.
Harbhajan Singh had Matt Prior caught at deep mid wicket. England needed 50 in 28 balls now. Only four wickets stood between India and a win. The tables had turned.
But the England lower order resisted. Michael Yardy, Bresnan, and Swann contributed 13, 14 and 15 respectively to take England to as close as India’s total. The last over began with England requiring 14 runs with just two wickets in hand.
It was Munaf Patel to bowl at Graeme Swann. Ajmal Shahzad stood at the non-striker’s end. Swann took three runs from the first two deliveries, bringing it down to 11 in four balls.
Then Shahzad hit the first ball he faced for a six over the bowler’s head. The match swung back towards England, but Munaf kept his calm. A bye and a two later, England needed two off the last ball.
Munaf pitched up. Swann to mid-off and set off, but the fielder was sharp and ensured they did not get a second run. The match, thus, ended in a tie after a hundred overs of cricket. Strauss was named Player of the Match for his 158. For the Indians Zaheer Khan, was the hero with 3-11 in his second spell.