MADRAS, Jan 25: Sachin Tendulkar hammered 68 for his 54th one-day half-century as India beat England by four wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the six-match series Friday.

India made 221 for six wickets in the 47th over after they had bowled England out for 217 in 48 overs.

Tendulkar, the most prolific run-scorer in one-day history, hit 10 fours in his 79-ball knock as he shared a 107-run opening stand with Virender Sehwag (51).

Tendulkar raised his fifty in just 44 balls and had put India firmly in command by the time off-spinner Jeremy Snape trapped him lbw in the 27th over.

But paceman Matthew Hoggard dismissed Vangipurappu Laxman (26), Dinesh Mongia (21) and all-rounder Sanjay Bangar (1) in the space of six balls to give England a sniff of an improbable victory.

But wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra then saw India through with a gutsy 29 not out under pressure.

Earlier, medium-fast bowler Ajit Agarkar grabbed four wickets for 34 as England were bowled for 217 after choosing to bat.

Captain Nasser Hussain (1), born in this southern city, failed on the ground he had played as a young boy as England slipped from 42 for no loss to 125 for six before a 70-run seventh wicket partnership between Snape (38) and all-rounder Ben Hollioake (37) gave the total some respectability.

Michael Vaughan top-scored with 43.

The next match will be played in Kanpur on Monday.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND

M.Trescothick c Ratra b Agarkar 36

N.Knight c Mongia b Srinath 10

N.Hussain c Singh b Bangar 1

M.Vaughan c Tendulkar b Kumble 43

P.Collingwood c Laxman b Singh 13

A.Flintoff c and b Kumble 8

B.Hollioake c Kumble b Agarkar 37

J.Snape b Agarkar 38

J.Foster not out 9

D.Gough b Agarkar 7

M.Hoggard run out 1

EXTRAS (lb-3 nb-4 w-7) 14

TOTAL (all out, 48 overs) 217

FALL OF WKTS: 1-42 2-53 3-61 4-90 5-104 6-125 7-195 8-202 9-216

BOWLING: Srinath 8-0-50-1 (nb-3

w-5), Agarkar 9-0-34-4 (w-1), Bangar

7-0-40-1, Singh 10-1-34-1, Kumble

10-1-37-2 (nb-1), Tendulkar 1-0-8-0

(w-1), Badani 3-0-11-0

INDIA

S.Tendulkar lbw b Snape 68

V.Sehwag c Trescothick b Snape 51

V.Laxman b Hoggard 26

D.Mongia c Foster b Hoggard 21

H.Badani c Foster b Gough 11

S.Bangar c Trescothick b Hoggard 1

A.Ratra not out 29

A.Agarkar not out 6

EXTRAS (lb-5 nb-1 w-2) 8

TOTAL (for six wickets, 46.4 overs) 221

FALL OF WKTS: 1-107 2-130 3-165 4-172 5-174 6-201

DID NOT BAT: H.Singh, A.Kumble, J.Srinath

BOWLING: Gough 10-0-55-1 (nb-1 w-1), Hoggard 10-1-52-3, Flintoff 10-0-27-0, Hollioake 4-0-17-0 (w-1), Snape 10-0-46-2, Collingwood 2-0-12-0, Vaughan 0.4-0-7-0.—Reuters