KOLKATA, Jan 19: England’s lower-order suffered a dramatic collapse after a commanding 121 by opener Marcus Trescothick as India pulled off an exciting 22-run win Saturday in the first of six One-day Internationals.

England, chasing 282 for victory, were coasting at 224 for four in the 36th over — with Trescothick having struck 13 fours and two big sixes — when their momentum stalled in unfortunate fashion.

The left-handed opener was given out lbw to fast bowler Javagal Srinath off a delivery that television replays indicated had pitched well outside leg-stump.

With the in-form Trescothick dismissed, the rest of the England innings quickly fell away and the last four wickets crashed for just 28 runs in six overs.

All-rounder Andrew Flintoff was run out for 23 by Harbhajan Singh on the cover point boundary and off-spinner Singh deceived Jeremy Snape in the flight to have him out lbw for four as England slipped to 233 for seven.

Paceman Ajit Agarkar then struck three times in the space of 10 balls, removing James Foster (2), Darren Gough (0) and Ashley Giles (18) as India won with five overs to spare.

Earlier, Dinesh Mongia struck his maiden One-day International half-century. The tall left-hander, making a comeback to the side after playing four matches last year, struck a 75-ball 71 that included seven fours and a six.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, India had looked set for a total in excess of 300 but England hit back with quick wickets towards the end.

Captain Saurav Ganguly began aggressively when he drove paceman Matthew Hoggard for a straight four in the second over.

Sachin Tendulkar took two boundaries off Hoggard’s next over, flicking him to the mid-wicket fence and clipping him over the slip cordon.

Ganguly then pulled fast bowler Darren Gough to square-leg for four before Tendulkar slashed Hoggard, who went for 20 from his first three overs, over the covers for a boundary.

But paceman Andrew Flintoff struck twice in quick succession.

The Lancashire bowler broke the 78-run opening stand when he bowled Tendulkar through the gate for a 43-ball 36, including six fours.

Ganguly (42) mis-hit an attempted pull off Flintoff to mid-wicket, where skipper Nasser Hussain made no mistake as India went to 95 for two.

Mongia and Vangipurappu Laxman steadied the innings with a 55-run partnership for the third wicket, keeping the scoreboard ticking over and punishing bad balls for boundaries.

Mongia cut left-arm spinner Ashley Giles for four before pulling him over mid-wicket for a big six. He then raised his 50 with a single off Michael Vaughan.

Scoreboard

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