KANPUR (India), Jan 28: Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag both hit half centuries as India crushed England by eight wickets in the fourth One-day International Monday to go 3-1 up in the six-game series.

Tendulkar hit an unbeaten 87 after Sehwag hammered 82 from just 62 balls as India, chasing 218 in the allotted 39 overs to win the rain-shortened match, coasted home with 9.2 overs to spare.

India raced to 219 for two wickets in the 30th over with Tendulkar signalling victory in style with a six.

Tendulkar and Sehwag raised a rapid 155-run opening stand to simply take the game away from the visitors.

Tendulkar completed 11,000 runs in One-day Internationals when he reached 48 before reaching his 55th one-day fifty.

Sehwag eventually fell, lofting Paul Collingwood’s gentle seamer to Matthew Hoggard at mid-on, but skipper Saurav Ganguly added a useful 26 to ensure there would be no late hiccups.

Earlier, India’s bowlers triggered a middle-order collapse as England were restricted to 218 for seven from their allotted 39 overs, despite a fiery 74 by Nick Knight.

Knight and Trescothick started aggressively after captain Nasser Hussain had elected to bat, but spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and medium-pacer Ganguly grabbed crucial wickets as the visitors slipped from 144 for two to 166 for six.

Scoreboard

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