Sachin Tendulkar produced a half-century of ominous poise and determination, with Gautam Gambhir bristling alongside him on 43 not out from 51 balls, as India's batsmen built on a typically forceful cameo from Virender Sehwag to push along to an imposing 140 for 1 at the halfway mark of their critical Group B encounter with England in Bangalore. Shorn of the services of Stuart Broad, who withdrew before the match with a stomach upset, England's bowlers maintained their composure in a fervent atmosphere, but found little reward on a pitch that offered pace, swing and a hint of turn for the spinners.
It is a curious fact that of Tendulkar's 46 ODI centuries, only one has come against England - at Chester-le-Street in 2002 - but with 57 from 73 balls to his name at the midpoint of India's innings, he will rarely be better placed to rectify that statistic. After a cautious start, his performance began to flourish as England rang the changes in their attack, and India are perfectly placed for the 300-plus total that Mahendra Singh Dhoni would have demanded after winning the toss.
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Munaf Patel.
England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Mike Yardy, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Ajmal Shahzad.
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