England beat India 'A' by three wickets

England were made to sweat for victory by part-time leg-spinner Gautam Gambhir (6-1-12-3). They, however, did go on to beat India 'A' by three wickets on the third and final day at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday. Chasing 173 for a win, England were helped along by their skipper Nasser Hussain (59) and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff (40 off 48 balls). They will thus go into the first Test match with a positive frame of mind, their first win on this tour under their belt.

Earlier in the day,India 'A' resumed on their overnight score of 75/3 and soon found themselves in deep trouble, losing wickets in a hurry to be bowled out for just 109 in their second innings. Craig White (13-3-31-5) and Flintoff (17-7-27-3) shared the bowling honours for England, giving their selectors something to think about. England now finds that it cannot afford to drop either of the two all-rounders from the first Test team.

It was Flintoff who struck first, with the seventh ball of the morning, as Yere Goud (13) was caught behind. Rashmi Ranjan Parida (13) was the next to go, trying to pull a short delivery from White and top-edging to Nasser Hussain. Ajay Ratra perished with the very next delivery for a duck, cleaned up by White. Abhijit Kale was caught by Mark Butcher off the bowling of Flintoff for just three. Skipper Sunil Joshi (13) was caught by Trescothick in the slips off Flintoff. Iqbal Siddiqui tried to celebrate his inclusion in the national squad with some attempted heavy blows, but was caught behind off Richard Johnson for just one.

India 'A' set their rivals a target of 173 runs for a win, and England got off to a disastrous start, losing the important wicket of Butcher. Butcher played from the crease to Dodda Ganesh, the ball flew off the glove to Gautam Gambhir at forward short-leg, who took a sharp reflex catch. New batsman Hussain was involved in a controversial decision. He pulled a ball high to long-on, where Siddiqui completed a good catch. He, however, threw the ball back in to avoid it being declared a six, as he was falling over the boundary line. TV replays suggested that the catch was taken and that fielder had full control over the ball. Umpires gave Hussain not out, much to the dismay of the fielders.

Marcus Trescothick got into the act quickly, punishing the wayward bowling for half-a-dozen boundaries before being caught by Ratra off the bowling of Siddiqui. The left-handed batsman made 30 runs and must feel a bit disappointed on losing out on some valuable batting practice. Mark Ramprakash played a brisk knock of 22 before being bowled by a short delivery from Joshi that hardly bounced.

Hussain, meanwhile, held the other end intact. With Michael Vaughan indisposed, Andrew Flintoff joined Hussain in the middle, and the runs started flowing. He was particularly severe on Joshi, smacking the bowler for a six and two fours. England went in to the tea break with just 27 runs required and seven wickets in hand.

Hussain threw his wicket away by giving the charge to Gambhir and was brilliantly stumped by young Ratra. The English captain made 59 runs off 123 balls, striking six fours and a six in his patient knock. Craig White (3) gave a tame return catch to Gambhir. Flintoff got bogged down against the spinners, and Joshi got one ball to turn and bounce to take the edge of his bat. There was some doubt regarding the catch being taken cleanly at first slip, but the umpire did not hesitate to award the benefit to the bowling side.

Ashley Giles swung a ball from Gambhir to the mid-wicket fence for a four to take England close to victory. James Foster (0) then flashed at Gambhir to give Joshi an easy catch at first slip. It took Giles, with an unbeaten 10, to take England past the target.