06 September 2004	Monday	20 Rajab 1425

LONDON, Sept 5: Spinner Harbhajan Singh and seamer Ashish Nehra grabbed three wickets each as India bowled out England for 181 to snatch a morale-boosting 23-run victory in the third and final One-day International at Lord's on Sunday.

The home side took the series 2-1 after convincing wins at Trent Bridge and The Oval but India hit back ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. "We're a good side we know that but we're still far from what we are capable of," said India's captain Saurav Ganguly.

His counterpart Michael Vaughan (74) and Ashley Giles (39) fought back from 62 for six but England's challenge effectively ended when Vaughan was stumped by 19-year-old wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik off Harbhajan's leg side delivery.

Ashish Nehra had earlier removed openers Marcus Trescothick and Vikram Solanki cheaply before fellow left arm seamer Irfan Pathan trapped Andrew Strauss and Anthony McGrath lbw.

Paul Collingwood was also run out for four thanks to Mohammad Kaif's quick reactions at short leg with England badly missing talisman Andrew Flintoff, who was waiting for his girlfriend to give birth.

Man-of-the-Match Ganguly earlier top-scored with 90 but Steve Harmison's career-best haul in one-dayers of four for 22 and Darren Gough's 200th wicket seemed to give England the upper hand as India were dismissed for 204.

Harmison, who took a hat trick at Trent Bridge, was named Man-of-the-Series as he finally produced the goods after failing to take test form into the one-day arena in the past. "This series has gone well. I have come a long way as a one-day cricketer," he said.

Gough was thrilled to reach the 200 wicket mark and was not overly worried by England's defeat. "It is something I have always wanted to achieve throughout my career," he said. "We have just had a bad 15 overs in three matches."

Ganguly's innings atoned for running out Kaif with some poor calling after he had contributed to his own dismissal in the second match at The Oval on Friday.

Collingwood at mid-wicket even had time to fumble the ball before casually tossing it back to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones to dismiss Kaif with both batsmen stranded at the bowler's end. India's captain had looked well set for a century before pulling Harmison to Vaughan at mid-wicket.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA:

S.C. Ganguly c Vaughan b Harmison 90

V.V.S. Laxman b Harmison 9

Mohammad Kaif run out 2

V. Sehwag c and b Giles 1

R. Dravid c Collingwood b Harmison 52

Yuvraj Singh c Giles b Wharf 9

D. Karthik c Jones b Harmison 1

Harbhajan Singh c Vaughan b Gough 0

Irfan Pathan b Wharf 14

A. Kumble c Wharf b Gough 5

A. Nehra not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-11, NB-3) 19

TOTAL (all out, 49.3 overs) 204

FALL OF WKTS: 1-24, 2-46, 3-48, 4-141, 5-170, 6-181, 7-182, 8-184, 9-195.

BOWLING: Gough 10-0-41-2 (2nb, 2w); Harmison 10-0-22-4 (5w); Wharf 9.3-0-41-2 (2nb, 2w); Giles 10-0-43-1 (1w); Vaughan 5-0-23-0; Collingwood 5-0-29-0 (1w).

ENGLAND:

M.E. Trescothick c Laxman b Nehra 1

V.S. Solanki c Harbhajan b Nehra 9

M.P. Vaughan st Karthik b Harbhajan 74

A.J. Strauss lbw b Pathan 2

A. McGrath lbw b Pathan 2

P.D. Collingwood run out 4

G.O. Jones c Sehwag b Harbhajan 11

A.F. Giles c and b Harbhajan 39

A.G. Wharf c Karthik b Yuvraj 9

D. Gough b Nehra 10

S.J. Harmison not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-11, W-4, NB-1) 16

TOTAL (all out, 48.2 overs) 181

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-22, 3-27, 4-29, 5-48, 6-62, 7-154, 8-155, 9-166.

BOWLING: Irfan Pathan 9-0-32-2 (1w); Nehra 7.2-1-26-3 (1w); Kumble 10-1-36-0 (1nb, 1w); Harbhajan Singh 10-1-28-3; Sehwag 6-0-24-0 (1w); Yuvraj Singh 6-0-24-1.

RESULT: India won by 23 runs. England win series 2-1.

UMPIRES: J.W. Lloyds (England) and D.B. Hair (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: M.R. Benson (England).

MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Saurav Ganguly.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Steve Harmison. -Reuters