Sehwag and Zaheer seal India's series

Whether it's a contest over 50 overs, 20 overs, or - as it turned out today - 22, India's one-day cricketers are simply streets ahead of England's. They duly claimed an unassailable 4-0 lead in the seven-game series thanks to a 19-run victory in a match that was rescued from a soggy grave by some valiant work from the Bangalore groundstaff.

After nearly five hours of rain delays, the contest was minutes away from an abandonment when the umpires decreed that the conditions were fit for play, and as things turned out, their decision proved to be worthwhile. For eight hard-hitting overs, while Owais Shah and Andrew Flintoff were together at the crease, adding 82 for the fourth wicket, England put up the best fight they have shown all series. But in the final analysis, the unbridled flamboyance of India's batsmen, coupled with the nerveless short-form skills that India's bowlers have learnt from their time in the IPL, proved decisive.

In every respect, India's approach to the game was superior to that of their opponents. Virender Sehwag epitomised the difference in mindset - the bulk of his 69 from 57 balls came when he was batting with a view to lasting for 50 overs, but in the final analysis you would hardly be able to tell the difference. He started the match by belting James Anderson's first ball over the covers for four, as India cruised a healthy 106 for 1 after 17 overs. Then, nearly seven hours later, he clobbered Samit Patel's first ball of the resumption for six, as India reappeared to help themselves to 60 more runs in the remaining five overs of their reduced allocation.

India's ability to switch tempo at will was astonishing and, to England's rigid mentality, unthinkable. Yuvraj Singh belted three more sixes to continue his extraordinary run of form with 25 not out from 11 balls, while both Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan - from the final ball of the innings - also launched the first balls they faced into the stands. Their final total of 166 for 4 was rightly adjusted under the Duckworth-Lewis method to an imposing target of 198, a prospect that looked stillborn when England began their chase.