Tendulkar was out first ball, says Hussain

Kanpur, India, January 28: England cricket captain Nasser Hussain said on Monday he was convinced Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar was out first ball in the fourth one-day international here.

"I as well as my team-mates were convinced that Tendulkar snicked the first ball. It would have become a very close game then (had Tendulkar been given out)," he said.

Tendulkar, who survived a caught-behind appeal in paceman Darren Gough's opening over, went on to score an unbeaten 87 as India thrashed England by eight wickets to gain a 3-1 lead in the six-match series.

India scored 219-2 in reply to England's 218-7 in a match reduced to 39-overs-a-side due to overnight rain.

Tendulkar also became the first batsman to complete 11,000 runs in one-dayers during his 55th half-century.

He shared a 134-run stand for the opening wicket with man-of-the-match Virender Sehwag (82) to pave the way for his team's comfortable victory.

Hussain praised the Indian openers, saying that his team had been batted out of the match.

"The way they batted, I think a target of 250 would have been an ordinary one," said Hussain. "The Indians can play shots anywhere in 360 degree. Sehwag is a carefree batsman and drives the ball well."

Hussain said his team had got off to a solid start, but could not capitalise on it.

"We got a flying start, but the middle-order should play in a slightly different tempo, like Thorpe did. We need batsmen to score runs down the order," he said.

Left-handed opener Nick Knight put England in a strong position with an 82-ball 74. The tourists were 144-2 in the 24th over before slipping to 166-6 in the 29th.

Thorpe, playing his first match of the series, remained unbeaten with 36.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said Sehwag and Tendulkar won the match for his team.

"Sehwag was simply brilliant," said Ganguly. "We now have an extra option of sending Sehwag as an opener."

The 23-year-old opened in place of Ganguly, who batted at number three after suffering cramps while bowling.

Last year, Sehwag scored the seventh-fastest hundred in one-dayers as an opener, taking 69 balls to reach the three-figure mark against New Zealand in a triangular series at Colombo.