Ewes to the slaughter

India's women completely outplayed England in their one-day series, winning the first four of their five matches with ease. The gulf in class and technique was illustrated by the tourists' inability to post competitive scores - they failed to reach 150 in any innings. India's attractive batting and penetrative spin attack simply proved too strong.

But England confounded all expectations with a record 200-run opening stand between Arran Thompson and Caroline Atkins in the one-off Test at Lucknow. The match itself ended in a watery draw, but it gave the tourists some much-needed self-respect and added a fleeting element of competition to the tour.

The one-dayers belonged to India, heart and soul. In the first game, at Chennai on January 6, England were bowled out for a limp 106. In overcast conditions, the seam attack of Jhulan Goswami and Suneeta Singh made early inroads and wickets tumbled at regular intervals.

Chief destroyer was Neetu David with her teasing left-arm spin. She maintained an impeccable line and length, bamboozling England to finish with figures of 9-2-14-4. The target of 107 was never challenging and India strolled to an eight-wicket victory in 28 overs.

Mithali Raj (36 not out) and captain Anjum Chopra (26 not out) saw them home - with a little help from the wayward England bowlers who conceded 25 extras.

Rain reduced the second match at Hyderabad to 23 overs a side, but victory proved equally straightforward for India. England's batting was painful - they only managed 71, with Dawn Holden's 13 the highest score. Goswami took 3 for 8 from her five overs as England resorted to wild strokes in an attempt to hit their way out of trouble.

Again it was the Chopra-Raj combination that steered India to victory. Chopra's 57-ball 37 was a little gem of aggressive strokeplay.

The third game saw Clare Connor, England's captain, win the toss for the first time and put India in. The wicket was flat and a cool-headed 52-run partnership between Mithali Raj and Mamatha Maben provided the backbone of the innings.

Maben, who last played for India in the 1993 World Cup, hit an unbeaten 56 off 86 balls. Arundhati Kirkire added some entertaining impetus to the closing overs, stroking a 36-ball 34 to help her side to 191.

England made a solid start but once wickets starting falling, the familiar slide followed and they collapsed for a miserable 78. Raj took 3 for 4 from just 4.3 overs of spin, and was well backed-up by Nooshin al-Khader (2 for 24) and Suneeta Singh (2 for 9).

Then came the turnaround of the tour: England's stand at Lucknow. The rest of the order could not follow the example of the openers - from 200 for 0 they collapsed to 314 all out. Neetu David enhanced her reputation, taking 4 for 88 from 51 miserly overs.

Again, the tourists had no answer to her flight and accuracy. India put on a solid reply, the highlight being Hemlata Kala's 110, and were 312 for 9 before rain brought an early conclusion.

But England's brief revival was squashed in the fourth one-dayer, as India maintained their unbeaten run with a five-wicket win.

England made an excellent start thanks to their Test heroines, Atkins (28) and Thompson (58), who put on 89 for the first wicket.

Thereafter it was a familiar procession for England, whose last eight wickets fell for 38 runs. David was again the main destroyer, taking 4 for 15.

Anjum Chopra saw her team home with an attacking 49 not out. It was a simple victory that typified India's superiority over the inexperienced England side.