Student fund covers shortcomings

There had been enough decidedly un-English play in the first three matches of this sprawling one-day marathon to dictate that the bad old ways would soon return. And in the manner beloved of the British press, today's unlikely victory was achieved in extraordinary circumstances, with the odds heavily stacked against it - put another way, it was an excellent face-saving exercise on what was turning into a monumental cock-up. When Stuart Broad joined Ravi Bopara with England 99 adrift of victory, and just three wickets in hand, very much in the manner of Roosevelt at the D-Day landings, one assumed that captain Paul Collingwood had his defeat-speech ready in his pocket.

Despite a pitch on which the vaunted Indian batting line-up had limped to just over 200, and 7 front-line English batsmen had mustered just over 100, and even with Collingwood, anchoring the innings and the only man in dark blue to have given a sense of permanence, having got on the wrong end of a run-out, somehow England's two youngest players managed to forge the elusive partnership which the commentators declared was all England needed, and yet all the senior batsmen had failed to manufacture. Just 28 of the 99 runs they put on were in boundaries, and like another illustrious English late-order partnership of 105 years ago, Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst, they resolved to get the majority in singles. Glides, nudges and pokes were supplemented by wristy inventiveness on the part of Bopara and the odd dominant off-side stroke from Broad, more reminiscent of his father, former England opener Chris. Bopara, of course, has been here before - in the company of another left-hander, team-elder Paul Nixon, he made an even more thrilling last stand in the World Cup against Sri Lanka, although that effort was fated to end in defeat. Today's partnership was far lower-octane - there was barely a reverse sweep in sight, and the job was completed long before one of the Indian seamers had the chance to emulate Fernando's last ball chutzpah. But, more happily, the result was an England victory; while Bopara continued to build his reputation as ice-blood finisher, Broad made the first significant batting contribution of his international career to join his ODI best figures with the ball and confirm what his bowling has suggested throughout the series, that he has now settled into this England team and is starting to produce his best.

In the circumstances of such a triumph, it is hard to strike a balance between praise for the heroes of the hour and criticism of those who put them in a situation where heroes were needed at all. It would be wrong to suggest that today's batting shambles is illustrative of England's general one-day situation, for they have batted well for most of the series. Rather it was a result of the usual mixture of potent bowling and foolish shot-selection. They were not helped by the early loss of Cook, who ideally would have batted as in a Test match and anchored the innings, but the general support for Collingwood was below poor - Flintoff has regained no confidence with the bat, while Shah is probably suffering from an inner-turmoil brought about by the fact he is being made to prove himself the series after he had been the only English batsman worthy of the description.

But at the stage in the series where the selectors can opt to alter the squad, there is far more reason to be positive than otherwise, largely thanks to the excellent standard of bowling. Gone are the much peddled sequences of wides, no-balls and boundaries which the likes of Plunkett and Mahmood amongst others have frequently dished up over the last year. Instead, James Anderson now leads the attack with his bowling and confidence appearing to grow with every passing game. He is now on the verge of being the ideal one-day pace bowler: providing wickets with the new ball, he is the sort to which Collingwood can turn to when he needs a wicket mid-innings, and some embellishments to his repertoire have meant that bowling at the death is now increasingly less of a trial. Alongside him, Broad has been as reliable as one could have hoped for a bowler of his experience: before today's game, perhaps the wickets had not come as freely as they might have, but he has been resolute with the new ball, his accuracy, nip and bounce creating pressure from one end, which his colleagues, especially Anderson, have been gleefully capitalising on. Flintoff has bowled with pace and aggression seldom seen since he last regularly played ODI cricket at home, in the summer of 2005. Doubt remains over the abilities of Panesar in this form of the game, and he lacks the variation which has made his opposite numbers so troublesome, although to his credit he produced his best one-day performance today, conceding less than 40 runs from his complete allocation of overs and taking away the scalp of Dhoni, castled by a sharp-spinner.

Almost as pleasing as the much improved bowling performances has been the excellent showing in the two outwardly peripheral areas of one-day cricket which few teams prosper without successfully executing. Australia have long been the market leaders in ODI cricket, and while the stellar names at both ends of the teamsheet have much to do with this, the high quality of their fielding is the factor which swings tight contests their way. Their current team possesses an unrivalled trio of world-class fielders in the gully/cover ring, with Ponting, Symonds and Clarke all predatory in hunting down even the best hit missiles, and deadly with the returns. England can only boast one fielder of that repute, in their captain Paul Collingwood, who has a claim for the title of best gully-line fielder in the world. But what has been apparent in this series is the way England are starting to field as a unit; alongside the captain, Bell, Bopara and Pietersen are on the way to becoming the same intimidating presence in the 30-yard circle as Australia offer. Throw in the catching and athleticism of Flintoff and the supreme arm of Anderson and you can see the potential this nascent England side has as a team in the field. Further to that, they have run excellently between the wickets, stealing singles and rotating the strike even when the boundaries will not come. In contrast, India have been slack in their running and slovenly in the field: while the experience of their batsmen is beneficial for that part of the game, having to carry their ageing legs in the field is costing India - it was something Greg Chappell identified during his now notorious spell as coach and although most involved in Indian cricket are now doing their best to forget the Chappell years, his point is an enduring one, and India will continue to struggle in one-day cricket while nothing is done.

Most of the negatives surrounding England's performances centre around the batting, although, excepting today's performance, returns have been promising. Cook and Bell delivered the centuries in the first game which the team had been crying out for. Both have continued to prosper, and although they are not fully able to exploit the powerplays in the popular muscular style, it is not inconceivable that they could continue to be accommodated. However, Matt Prior is not the right man to fill that particular sandwich - he is not a bad pinch-hitter, but rarely threatens to really cut loose or indeed progress much beyond 30, too often the victim to an ugly swipe resulting in a towering catch. Now they have the opportunity to meddle with the squad, it seems that the form of Durham opener (and 'keeper) Phil Mustard is just a bit too good to ignore: following his quickfire 49 in the FP final, he has produced innings of 84 (74 balls), 78 (40 balls) and 66 (31 balls) in three consecutive Pro40 games. Continuity is what England may bleat should they choose to pass over Mustard, but bloodymindedness is a greater sin than contravening the former.

But in comparison to earlier in the summer, these are just quibbles, and the English team and fans can take a brief moment to bask in the glory of some one-day success, in recent years about as commonplace as Saharan rain. But not for too long; despite their considerable advantage, there is still a series to win. And if it is for his bowling rather than batting that Stuart Broad continues to make headlines, then his country will be well served.