The Bell factor and India's bowling worries

With the series decider at Lord's ending in a no-contest, Paul Collingwood led England to their first ODI series win at home in three years by beating India 4-3. It was perhaps an apt result, since the closely-fought Test series went India's way, ending England's six-year unbeaten streak in Tests at home.

India were powered by their batsmen throughout the series, especially their opening partnership of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Their performances were indicative of how much the team relies on the senior batsmen, and their starts were crucial to India's success. On the other hand, England banked on inexperienced players like Matt Prior, Alastair Cook and Luke Wright to play the new ball. Cook scored his maiden hundred in the first ODI and at Lord's both Prior and Wright were dismissed for ducks. England's openers often got off to starts but failed to capitalise.

Although England's openers may have fallen short compared to India's, Ian Bell more than made up for that by scoring 422 runs and winning the Man-of-the-Series award. Rahul Dravid gave youngsters Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir a chance at No 3, though many felt he himself should have batted at that vital position.

While the batsmen performed for India, it was the bowlers that let them down. The spinners managed to tie down the England batsmen at times but, on the whole, it was a disappointing effort in the field especially from the fast bowlers. India's shoddy fielding didn't help matters either.

India dropped nine catches and missed one stumping opportunity during the seven matches. The England batsmen cashed in and a total estimate of how many runs they scored after being let off was around 237 runs. Bell was dropped four times in three matches. England, on the other hand, dropped only four catches, of which two were extremely difficult, and it cost them 114 runs.

While Zaheer Khan was the best bowler during the Test series, James Anderson upstaged him in the ODIs. Anderson picked up 14 wickets, while Flintoff and Broad took 10 and nine respectively.

The difference in the bowling performance is reflected in the average runs per wicket for both teams during the series.

India also lagged behind England in the run-rate during the Powerplays and even more so in the last ten overs, when the Indian bowlers and fielders were unable to prevent England from picking up easy runs.

India's two main weaknesses - running between the wickets and fielding - also show up in the break-up of scoring shots. While India are ahead in the percentage of fours, they are behind as far as ones, twos and threes are concerned.

The series also had several records and milestones. The following are some of the highlights: