NatWest Series Floodlit One Day International

England v India NatWest One Day International 21st August 2007

England v India

The Rose Bowl staged one of the biggest matches in World Cricket in the summer of 2007

England battled India under The Rose Bowl's spectacular floodlits in the NatWest One Day International on 21st August 2007

Read an account and view photographs from the historic clash

On a day when the rain yet again swept across the country and nobody else played at all, even at first-class grounds less than a hundred miles away, The Rose Bowl miraculously managed to stage a full floodlit spectacular. And it was as close to prefect as we have seen from them in a long, long time.

Yes, the clouds were always threatening and yes, it was not exactly a balmy summer’s night but for a packed house of 20,000 watching a resurgent England, with Andrew Flintoff making his long-awaited return and two Hampshire boys in the ranks, that didn’t really matter. To watch an England one-day side play with such purpose, such élan, in all three disciplines was a rare treat and an experience that the side’s fans will be hoping henceforth to see more regularly.

From the moment Paul Collingwood lost the toss and was put in to bat on a Rose Bowl strip that played excellently all day and all night (putting to rest residual doubts that some still have about the pitch, despite its consistent high scores over the last few years) England dominated in a way you would expect of an Australian side in its pomp.

To have two of your top three batsmen in a one-day game scoring hundreds is a rare feat but one which Alistair Cook and Ian Bell, both under some pressure to perform in the one-day arena, managed with some ease, notching unfussy maiden one-day international hundreds. They gathered their runs expertly and without resorting to slogging, working the call into the gaps, running between the wickets brilliantly and milking the spinners and medium pacers in the middle overs of the innings, something which has been conspicuously absent in recent England one-day performances.

And when Cook fell towards the end for a superbly compiled hundred, The Rose Bowl got to see their home hero Kevin Pietersen, who did not disappoint, scoring a quickfire unbeaten 33 to push England up to a daunting 288 for 2 off their full allocation of 50 overs. At the other end Ian Bell elegantly went some way towards losing the tag of being a batsmen who fails to push on past 50 in one-day cricket by scoring an unbeaten 126 at better than a run a ball.

And so England’s innings came to an end with the crowd buzzing, knowing that this was a truly imposing total. But with Ganguly, Tendulkar and Dravid as India’s main threats, they also knew that the game was not yet over. But after another minor miracle, a Panesar run out in the third over to get rid of Ganguly, and an inspired spell of opening bowling from James Anderson that saw the back of Sachin Tendulkar and reduced the visitors to 34-4, England fans were able to breathe more easily.

They sat back and, from the best viewing ground in the country, watched the show, all the bowlers performing with great discipline and common sense, none more so than the returning Andrew Flintoff – who hit 92mph on the speed gun and showed just what the national side has been missing the summer-and Hampshire’s own Dimitri Mascarenhas, who bowled just as The Rose Bowl crowd knows he can, in miserly fashion, mixing it up and frustrating the batsmen. To general delight he also picked up his first ODI wicket-the prize scalp of Rahul Dravid-in a brilliant spell of 7 for 28 off his full ten overs, in which he wobbled the ball around and bowled a canny wicket-to-wicket line throughout.

In the lead up to team section Mascarenhas had opined that with the return of Flitoff and RaviBopara from injury, he may struggle to get a game, but it was Owais Shah who was the one to miss out at the start of proceedings, a shock considering he was England’s leading run scorer in the West Indies one-day series but a real boost to Mascarenhas, and an indication of the high regard in which he is held by the England management team. The decision proved an inspired one, with England only requiring four batsmen and Dimi showing his worth with the ball and in the field.

After the game England skipper Paul Collingwood summed up: “It was one of our best performances for some time. The way the batters went about it, positive right through. I think we’ve had such phases in the past but we’re looking for that consistently. Today was kind of a perfect games. It’s a great start for us but we need to continue with that rhythm and momentum.” After praising Bell and Cook, Collingwood turned to his bowlers: “Jimmy and Fred were fantastic and Dimi did what Dimi does,” he said, summing it up rather neatly.

England v India ODI Archive Match Report