It was always going to take something spectacular to extract England’s one-day team from their recent slough of despond, and so it proved at Trent Bridge, as India were overwhelmed by seven wickets in the opening match of the NatWest Challenge
The Bulletin by Andrew Miller01-Sep-2004England 171 for 3 (Solanki 52, Strauss 41*) beat India 170 (Kaif 50, Wharf 3-30, Harmison 3-41) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Steve Harmison: England’s hat-trick hero© Getty Images
It was always going to take something spectacular to extract England’s one-day team from their recent slough of despond, and so it proved at Trent Bridge, as India were overwhelmed by seven wickets in the opening match of the NatWest Challenge. Once again, that one-day maxim: “Win the toss, win the match” rang true, as India were bundled out for 170 after being put in to bat, and England raced to victory with more than 17 overs to spare.For all their eventual dominance, it took a debutant – Glamorgan’s allrounder Alex Wharf – to show England the way to victory, with three wickets in his first three overs of international cricket. By the end of the innings, however, it was an old sweat who had taken centre stage, as Steve Harmison ripped through India’s tail with a stunning hat-trick. England’s reply was not without its jitters, but Vikram Solanki laid the foundations of the run-chase with a steady 52, leaving Andrew Flintoff to clatter his way to the tape with 34 not out from 23 balls.It was the first time this summer that England’s one-day side had produced a performance worthy of the strides made by the Test team. From the moment that Darren Gough removed Virender Sehwag, courtesy of a spooned catch to mid-on, England’s bowlers were in control, and it was only while Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were adding 52 in nine overs for the second wicket that India had any momentum to speak of.Wharf’s introduction effectively sealed the match. Until this season he had been considered a journeyman seamer, with spells at Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire before settling in Wales, but he soon dispelled that impression. With his fifth legal delivery, he suckered Ganguly into a careless hoick, which landed in Geraint Jones’s gloves behind the stumps, and four balls later, Laxman was dragged forward by a good-length outswinger, for Jones to grab his second regulation chance in quick succession (63 for 3).Wharf’s third victim was the most precious of the lot. Rahul Dravid had just been reprieved second ball by Jones off a high-kicking Flintoff delivery, but before he could truly cash in, he had top-edged a pull to Gough, running round from backward square leg. At 80 for 4, England had taken control.Yuvraj Singh had already clattered his first ball through the covers for four and, when he was joined at the crease by Mohammad Kaif, all of India’s thoughts drifted back to the final of the NatWest Series in 2002, when the pair rescued their team from a similarly desperate situation. This time, however, their alliance ended in less auspicious circumstances, as Yuvraj hesitated over a third run, and was run out by Ashley Giles’s pinpoint throw from the midwicket boundary (89 for 5).Giles then settled in for a tight spell against Kaif and Rohan Gavaskar, who played sensibly and well within himself to tick along to 20 from 49 balls. But just as he was set to cut loose, Gavaskar carved Flintoff low towards backward point, where Paul Collingwood dived full-stretch to his right to scoop a stunning one-handed catch inches from the turf. It proved to be a seminal moment in the innings. Irfan Pathan had made just 3 when he chipped a return catch to Giles and, despite a brave half-century from Kaif, the innings unravelled dramatically.
Vikram Solanki: marked his comeback with a vital half-century© Getty Images
Harmison had bowled swiftly although without luck in his first spell, but now he made amends … and some. Kaif was drawn into a drive, and thick-edged a simple chance to give Jones his third catch of the innings; Lakshmipathy Balaji was snared by Flintoff at second slip off a brisk lifter – although there was more than a hint of armguard in the shot; and with men all round the bat, Ashish Nehra drove his first delivery straight back into Harmison’s midriff.Harmison had become the fourth current member of England’s bowling squad – behind Gough, James Anderson and Matthew Hoggard – to have taken an international hat-trick, and the first player in any one-day international since Anderson in the corresponding series against Pakistan last year. India faced a tough challenge if they hoped to defend such a sub-par total.But with Marcus Trescothick and Solanki back in harness, India were denied the flying start they so desperately needed. India’s three-pronged swing attack of Balaji, Nehra and Pathan had their moments, occasionally bursting over the top of the stumps or arcing round the edge of the bat, but they offered up far too many loose deliveries, which were seized upon by Trescothick in particular. He was never afraid to hit the ball in the air, but such was the power behind his shots, it hardly mattered.Solanki, meanwhile, was growing in confidence with every delivery. With a century in the C&G Trophy final fresh in his memory, he produced the shot of the innings as Pathan was driven straight back down the ground, before he crashed him through square-leg for two fours in succession. England did suffer a slight wobble, when Balaji removed Trescothick via a loose cut to point, and Vaughan, bowled for a duck by a perfectly pitched outswinger, in consecutive overs, but Andrew Strauss joined Solanki to ward off any further mishaps.Solanki brought up his half-century with a thumping shot over midwicket, only to be trapped lbw by Pathan’s very next delivery, but the crowd did not mind that. Out strode Flintoff to wrap up the run-chase in mesmeric fashion. He crashed three vast sixes, including a clump over midwicket to seal the victory and, suddenly, all seemed to be well once again in England’s one-day garden. It is a fickle game.
