India clinched the seven-match series against England, beating the visitors by 19 runs, via the Duckworth-Lewis method, in the rain-curtailed fourth ODI in Bangalore on Sunday night.
Put into bat in what was India's 700th ODI, the hosts witnessed two lengthy rain interruptions before posting 166 for four wickets in 22 overs, a score they owed mainly to Virender Sehwag (69), Gautam Gambhir (40) and Yuvraj Singh (25 not out).
Needing 198 for victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method to stay afloat in the seven-match series, England scored only 178 for eight, as India took an unassailable 4-0 lead in the series.
For the visitors, Owais Shah (72) and Andrew Flintoff (41) tried their best but it was not enough in the end.
With Ishant Sharma pulling off a stunner to send back in-form Ravi Bopara (1) off Munaf Patel, England hardly got the ideal start and crisis compounded when Ian Bell (12) too returned cheaply after Harbhajan Singh had upset his timberworks.
Much was expected of Kevin Pietersen (5) but Ishant cut short the England captain's stay by pegging back his stumps to reduce the visitors to 52 for three.
Owais Shah got a life when Gautam Gambhir grassed a sitter off Harbhajan and the England batsman went on to add 82 runs with Flintoff in eight overs. But just when the match looked like slipping through India's fingers, Zaheer Khan dismissed Shah, who hammered 72 runs off just 48 balls, including nine fours and three sixes.
And once Flintoff fell to Ishant in the next over, India had pretty much sealed the fate of the match.
Earlier, Virender Sehwag struck a scintillating 69 and Yuvraj Singh hammered 25 off just 11 balls as India set England a formidable total.
Put into bat, the Indian innings saw two lengthy rain interruptions before reaching 166 for four wickets in 22 overs.
For the hosts, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir (40) scored bulk of the runs before Yuvraj came up with a gem of a cameo to swell the tally.
India were going strong at 106 for one in 17 overs when the second interruption took place and by the time Sehwag and Gambhir returned to resume batting, the innings was cut short to 22 overs.
Under pressure to make the most of the remaining five overs, Sehwag blasted the first ball from Samit Patel for a six before holing out to James Anderson off Graeme Swann.
Sehwag's 57-ball 69 was studded with nine hits to the fence and three sixes.
Gambhir was on song too but with just five overs to go, the left-hander had no other option but to throw his bat at everything and he too perished in the deep off Swann but not before chipping in with 40 off 37 balls.
With no time to get his eyes in, Yuvraj hoicked Kevin Pietersen for two sixes in the same over and sent Swann over the ropes as well.
Along with Yuvraj, Yusuf Pathan also remained unbeaten, having hit the only ball he faced from Samit Patel for a six.
More from rediff