England clinch the series

There was a lot of anticipation and expectation for the grand finale of an exciting one day series at Lords. St Johns Wood station was a buzz with hardly space to move, with tickets being sold at crazy prices. After the fantastic game at the Oval, most people expected a repeat performance.

Apparently the Indian team had been to a formal dinner the previous evening and perhaps had a late night or something as they just looked out of sorts. The first ball to Ganguly by Anderson set the tone. England seemed ready for battle whereas India found it hard to come out of the starting block. Ganguly who has been in prime form through the tour looked anxious and tried to hit his way out of trouble. Tendulkar who looked in supreme touch realised his partner was struggling and offered advice but he persevered skiing the ball all over the place before being caught at slip. An good opening partnership has been an important factor for India doing well in the series and this was not a good omen for them.

Credit has to be given to England who did not let India settle and bowled to tight plans and fielded brilliantly. Collingwood captained the side well again and must have been glad to loose the toss. This England side has taken huge strides throughout this series and for the first time in years looks like a good outfit with a handful of young exciting players which have brought renewed vigour to the side.

There were some controversial umpiring decisions against Dravid and Tendulkar at a crucial part of the Indian innings. Technology showed that Dravid had a nick whereas Tendulkar was unlucky yet again and showed his disappointment when walking off perhaps for the final time on English soil. Uthappa was lucky not be be given out so these things usually even out but it raises the debate on what part technology should play in the game. India never really recovered after the early collapse and a flourish from Dhoni at the end helped them to a half respectable score but it was always going to be hard to defend unless they took lots of wickets.

England lost both their openers without scoring but Pietersen came good for the final game as good players tend to and Collingwood played as well as I have seen him play to ease to a comfortable win in the end. It was not the thriller we all wanted and but in the end England deserved to win as they had played well in all departments of the game consistently through the series, with their bowling and fielding making the difference. India relied too much on their batsman putting up big scores to make up for their inferior bowling and fielding. They will have to improve in these areas to really put pressure on the opposition.

The action now moves to the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and both these teams hardly have time to draw breath as they leave today. At least they will be nicely warmed up for the event, whereas other teams who have been out of action for a while will need time to warm up. The Aussies have had a long break again but who would bet against them clinching this title as well to add to all the others in their crowded trophy cabinet.

I can hardly believe the tour is over and I hate this time, especially after a memorable tour as this one was, having been lucky enough to catch a lot of the games, with both tests and one day games being of the highest standard, between two well matched sides. There is that empty feeling now that every cricket fan feels after a great series. It is Sunday and the sun is shining so maybe I will go and watch a game of club cricket somewhere, any cricket will do........