India win despite classic 121 by Marcus Trescothick

Calcutta, India, January 19: Marcus Trescothick smashed the fastest ever one-day century for England, but failed to stop India from posting a 22-run victory in the opening match here on Saturday.

The left-handed opener reached his hundred off just 80 balls at the Eden Gardens to surpass former England captain David Gower's record of an 82-ball century against New Zealand at Adelaide in 1982-83.

Trescothick went on to score 121 before falling to a dubious leg-before decision as England were all out for 259 in reply to India's 281-8 after being penalised one over for a slow over-rate in the day-night match.

The 26-year-old hit two sixes and 13 fours in his 109-ball knock to make India struggle to defend their highest total against England in a 50-over match.

Trecothick, who had recovered in time from a bout of flu, reduced the hosts to a state of helplessness as he drove, cut, pulled and swept vigorously to complete 1,000 runs during his second hundred in 27 matches.

He posed a major threat to India, exploding with a flurry of boundaries early in his innings. He swung off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and then lofted leg-spinner Anil Kumble over long-on for two sixes.

Trescothick's extraordinary onslaught on the Indian bowling sustained England's hopes after the second-ball dismissal of Nick Knight, trapped leg-before by paceman Javagal Srinath.

He received valuable support from skipper Nasser Hussain (25), Michael Vaughan (14) and Paul Collingwood (21) before falling to a doubtful decision as the ball appeared to have pitched outside the leg-stump.

"The game was lost because of some frustrating decisions," said Hussain, one of the four leg-before victims in the England innings. "Trescothick's dismissal was the turning point. The game was the loser."

England, without a reliable Graham Thorpe (stomach upset), needed 58 more runs with five wickets in hand when Trescothick fell in the 36th over, but found the target beyond their reach.

Trescothick and Hussain had to take risks while batting under pressure of a big total.

He was dropped on two and Hussain on 22 by Venkatsai Laxman in the slips, but did not curb their strokes. The England captain did not capitalise on the chance, but Trescothick did.

"I was excited about the match because we had heard a lot about the crowd here," said Trescothick. "It was a good batting pitch. I decided to go for shots early in the innings and look for singles later on."

Hussain fell in search of quick runs, adjudged leg-before on the frontfoot while playing across in Kumble's opening over.

There was no stopping Trescothick, who overshadowed Indian batsman Dinesh Mongia's maiden half-century in one-dayers.

"The match was going out of our hands when Trescothick was batting," said Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. "It was a fantastic knock, but we got wickets at regular intervals which kept us in the game."

Mongia celebrated his return to the national squad with a brisk 71, hitting one six and seven fours as India posted a challenging total after electing to bat on an easy-paced pitch.

Mongia, dropped after playing four one-dayers last year, steadied the innings after seamer Andrew Flintoff grabbed two wickets in his three overs.

The 24-year-old helped his team overcome the twin blow with his rich stroke-play, using his feet well against the spinners and hitting the ball hard and clean during his 75-ball knock.

Flintoff put India under pressure with his double-strike to break the 78-run opening stand between Sachin Tendulkar (36) and Ganguly (42).

Tendulkar missed the line and was bowled while trying to flick a Flintoff full-length delivery. Ganguly also played one shot too many against the seamer, pulling a ball straight to Hussain.

The Indian openers scored briskly against new-ball bowlers Matthew Hoggard and Darren Gough, going for shots from the beginning, much to the delight of 80,000 spectators.

Hemang Badani (35), Virender Sehwag (29) and Laxman (25) also chipped in to set a stiff target for England.