Bengaluru, Feb 27: TheIndia-England day/night match of the 2011 ICC World Cup in Bengaluru ended in a tied result. This after India held their nerve to prevent England from walking away with the game after Andrew Strauss (158) had produced one of the all time great innings of the Cricket World Cup. Requiring 59 runs off the last eight overs with eight wickets in hand, the England batsmen failed to close out the chase as India clawed their way back into the game.

Set to chase a daunting target of 339, England openers Strauss and Kevin Pietersen attacked from the word go. The first 50 runs came in just 7.3 overs as Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel were regularly dispatched to the boundary ropes. But with the score at 68, Patel managed to get rid of Pietersen (31), taking a brilliant return catch off his own bowling. And when Jonathan Trott (16) fell to Piyush Chawla seven overs later, India were back in the game.

However, Strauss was in no mood to throw in the towel. His partnership with Ian Bell for the third wicket produced a golden passage of play for England as the pair notched up 170 runs off just 156 balls. Strauss brought up his sixth ODI century during the course of the partnership while Bell helped his way to a half-century. With England needing 59 runs off the last eight overs with eight wickets still in hand, the match was very much within their control.

But Zaheer Khan removed Bell (69) and Strauss (158) off consecutive deliveries in the 43rd over to put England in a spot of bother. In Zaheer’s very next over, the 45th of England’s innings, he bowled Paul Collingwood (1) to give the hosts the advantage.

Matt Prior (4) was the next to go, out caught by Suresh Raina at midwicket off Harbhajan Singh’s bowling. 13 deliveries later, Michael Yardy (13) was caught off Munaf Patel’s bowling by Virender Sehwag at short fine leg.

With England requiring 29 runs off the last 12 balls, Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan smashed Piyush Chawla for a six each to bring England within 14 runs of victory. But with Chawla bowling Bresnan off the last ball of his over, the match was evenly poised.

Ajmal Shahzad hit Munaf Patel for a big six over long-on in the final over. But with the Indian bowler not conceding another boundary off his remaining deliveries, the match ended in a tie. It was a memorable encounter with the tied result being the only appropriate end.

Earlier, India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first. Virender Sehwag set the tone for the Indian innings with a brisk 26-ball knock of 35 runs. Andrew Strauss, desperate to find a way to stop Sehwag, introduced Tim Bresnan into the attack. Bresnan induced an edge off Sehwag’s bat off just the fifth delivery he bowled and with wicketkeeper Matt Prior pulling off a difficult one-handed catch, Sehwag was on his way back to the pavilion. India were 46 for one in 7.5 overs at this stage.

But this was Sachin Tendulkar’s day. The Indian batting master, who was content to allow Sehwag to dominate the English attack, changed gears at the fall of his opening partner’s wicket. The English pacers were cut on the off-side and clipped to the on-side boundaries with regularity. Batting along with Gautam Gambhir, Sachin carried India past the 150-run mark in just 26.1 overs. The added 134 runs for the second wicket before Gambhir (51) was bowled by Graeme Swann.

Tendulkar, though, continued his onslaught on the English attack. Having hit Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann for two sixes each earlier in his innings, Tendulkar brought up his fifth ODI century in World Cup competitions by whipping Tim Bresnan to the fine leg boundary in the 35th over.

He was eventually dismissed for 120 (115 balls, 10X4, 5X6) when a leading edge off his bat was lapped up by Michael Yardy at cover.

With India’s score at 236 at the fall of Tendulkar’s wicket in 38.2 overs, Yuvraj Singh (58 off 50) and MS Dhoni (31 off 25) produced a 69-partnership off just 46 balls to carry India past 300.

Bresnan, though, took four wickets (three in the space of four deliveries) at the end to prevent the Indians from finishing their innings with a flourish. Yet, India’s score of 338 proved to be a difficult one to surpass on the night.

Brief scores:India 338 all out in 49.5 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 120, Yuvraj Singh 58, Gautam Gambhir 51, Tim Bresnan 5/48) tie with England 338/8 in 50 overs (Andrew Strauss 158, Ian Bell 69, Zaheer Khan 3/64, Munaf Patel 2/70)

Man-of-the-match:Andrew Strauss for his 158 that laid the foundation for England’s reply to India’s score of 338