London, June 15 2009: Defending champions India were knocked out of the Twenty20 World Cup title race after a heart-breaking three-run defeat at the hands of an inspired England in a nerve-wracking Super Eight match here.

Chasing a modest victory target of 154, India’s famed batting order crumbled when it mattered the most and they could manage 150 for five to see their title defence lay in tatters.

The sizeable Indian crowd at the historic Lord’s were in a state of disbelief as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men failed to reach the target in the must-win game last night.

Gautam Gambhir (26) and Ravindra Jadeja (25) got the starts but could not convert them and Yusuf Pathan (33 not out off 17 balls) and Dhoni (30 not out off 20 balls) made a last ditch effort but it was not enough in the end.

Put into bat, England earlier rode on cameos from Kevin Pietersen (46), Ravi Bopara (37) and Dimitri Mascarenhas (25 not out) to reach a modest 153 for seven and India owed it to Harbhajan Singh (3/30) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/26) for keeping the hosts in a leash. Defending the total, the England pacers peppered the Indian batsmen with short-pitch stuff that made life difficult for them. Their title defence over, India play their next Super Eight match against South Africa in Nottingham tomorrow.

The target did not look particularly insurmountable but Ryan Sidebottom’s early double strike meant India did not get the start they wanted.

Rohit Sharma (9) seemed to have left his form behind in the pool stage and once again the Mumbaikar failed to do justice to the makeshift opener’s role when he dragged one onto his stumps. Suresh Raina (2) too could not replicate his IPL form and mistimed a pull shot for Luke Wright to take a well-judged skier. Gautam Gambhir (26) looked more comfortable than most of his teammates and played some delectable cover drives before a paddle shot off Mascarenhas ended his run-a-ball stay. With no freebies on offer from England bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja (25) tried to break free only to perish in the deep before Graeme Swann dealt a bigger blow three balls later by removing familiar England nemesis Yuvraj Singh (17).

Yuvraj had started off with a huge six off Mascarenhas and repeated the treatment to Swann. But it proved too good to last long as he returned to the hut stumped by James Foster who did a smart job behind the wickets. Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan tried their best but could get only 15 of the 19 runs they required from the last over from Sidebottom.

Earlier, Pietersen played a dominating hand as England posted a respectable score after Dhoni put them into bat.

England’s premier batsman walked in to bat in the second over and stayed till the 13th over to smash 46 off 27 balls with five fours and a six, forging an important stand of 71 with Ravi Bopara (37) for the second wicket.

India chose to field first and were immediately rewarded when opener Luke Wright (1) fell to R P Singh in the second over.

The home team’s second wicket pair then hustled the Indians, running brilliantly between the wickets and never missing a chance to go for big shots. Dhoni tried to play on Pietersen’s ego by bringing Yuvraj on as the two don’t have any love lost between them.

Bopara struck Yuvraj’s first ball past extra cover for four and then Pietersen did the same, sweeping the same bowler to fine leg for another four.

Dhoni introduced Ravindra Jadeja (2/26) in the 11th over and the left-arm spinner immediately gave his team the wickets they were looking for.

Repeated attempts by batsman to dash down the track didn’t materialise and when Bopara made room to cut, he missed the delivery and was castled after a run-a-ball knock. But the prized wicket the Indians were looking for came in the 13th over when Pietersen, after hoisting Jadeja into the midwicket stands, tried to do it again next delivery but was adjudged LBW as the dipping full toss hit him on his pad.

Harbhajan (3/30) was on a hat-trick after getting James Foster (6) and Graeme Swann (0) off successive deliveries even though the milestone eventually eluded him.

Scoreboard of the India-England Super Eight match of the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord’s here.

England:

Ravi Bopara	b Jadeja	37
Luke Wright	c Pathan b RP Singh	1
Kevin Pietersen	lbw b Jadeja	46
Dimitri Mascarenhas	not out	25
Owais Shah	c Jadeja b Harbhajan	12
Paul Collingwood	lbw b Zaheer	7
James Foster	c & b Harbhajan	6
Graeme Swann	b Harbhajan	0
Stuart Broad	not out	3

Extras (LB-2, W-14)                     16

Total (For 7 wickets in 20 overs)      153

Fall of wickets: 1-3 2-74 3-92 4-122 5-138 6-145 7-145.

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 3-0-26-1; RP Singh 3-0-13-1; Ishant Sharma 4-0-36-0; Yuvraj Singh 2-0-20-0;
Harbhajan Singh 4-0-30-3; Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-26-2.

India:

Gautam Gambhir	c Broad b Mascarenhas	26
Rohit Sharma	b Sidebottom	9
Suresh Raina	c Wright b Sidebottom	2
Ravindra Jadeja	c Broad b Swann	25
Yuvraj Singh	st Foster b Swann	17
MS Dhoni	not out	30
Yusuf Pathan	not out	33

Extras (LB-4, W-4)                         8

Total (For 5 wickets in 20 overs)        150

Fall of wickets: 1-12 2-24 3-62 4-85 5-87.

Bowling: James Anderson 4-0-32-0; Ryan Sidebottom 4-0-31-2; Stuart Broad 4-0-21-0; Kevin
Pietersen 1-0-9-0; Luke Wright 2-0-16-0; Graeme Swann 4-0-28-2; Dimitri Mascarenhas 1-0-9-1.

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